PORT ALBERNI, B.C. — Mounties in British Columbia are asking the public to be honest after a missing hiker's friends delayed reporting her disappearance to police.
Port Alberni RCMP say they received a report for the missing hiker on Monday morning after she disappeared at around 2:30 p.m. the previous day.
The woman was later found on Monday afternoon without appropriate outerwear and taken to hospital.
Police say her friends, who searched throughout the day and night that she was missing, didn't immediately report her disappearance because there was an arrest warrant for her and they wanted to avoid interaction with officers.
Mounties say investigators had to analyze cryptic details in the police report to determine where to look for the missing hiker, putting her life at risk.
Police say the woman's warrant was addressed after she was found.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2024.
The Canadian Press
