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UPDATE: Search and Rescue teams seek woman feared drowned at Widgeon Falls

Popular hiking spot near Pitt Lake scene of potential drowning
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A Talon Helicopters aircraft transported Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue team members to Widgeon Falls, where a swimmer went missing on Wednesday night. (Ridge Meadows SAR/Special to The News)

The swiftwater rescue team from Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue joined the Coquitlam search team in trying to find a woman who disappeared at Widgeon Falls on Wednesday evening, and is feared to have drowned.

“A search for a missing individual last seen swimming at the falls was conducted with nothing found this evening,” reported the RMSAR team in a social media post. “Coquitlam SAR is working with the RCMP to determine the next steps.”

The teams searched the area immediately around the falls, and down stream, but were not able to locate the person.

“Water levels currently remain too high to safely enter the water, so an actual physical search of the area remains impossible until the water levels both drop and slow down,” said Const. Deanna Law of the Coquitlam RCMP.

“Until then, our Air Services will continue to conduct daily areal searches over the area.”

She said a 50-year-old female was reported to have entered the water, went under, and witnesses say she did not resurface.

Widgeon Falls is a popular hiking area in Pinecone-Burke Provincial Park, and is accessed by paddlers via Pitt Lake and Widgeon Creek.

More details as they become available.


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Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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