Search over for Lil’wat Nation father, son reported missing near Pemberton
Posted October 29, 2020 9:47 pm.
Last Updated October 30, 2020 12:24 am.
PEMBERTON (NEWS 1130) — A week-long search for two Lil’wat Nation members, Peter Oleski, 48, and River Leo, 21, has come to an end.
In a joint release from Stl’atl’imx Tribal Police and Pemberton RCMP, police confirmed the tragic update, and confirmed the death of the father and son.
“At approximately 2:00 pm a Lil’wat Nation volunteer search group located Peter and contacted Police and Pemberton SAR. Upon attending to the location of Peter, SAR teams located River,” a release reads.
“The determination of the Lil’wat community and the search and rescue teams was inspiring to all those who participated in the search. Although this is not the ending we had all hoped for I am thankful they were located, as this is not always the case with those that go missing in our backcountry,” a release adds.
Missing father and son in the Upper McKenzie Basin located deceasedhttps://t.co/tGkdBo4cWg
— Squamish RCMP (@SquamishRCMP) October 30, 2020
Oleski and Leo initially failed to return home on Oct. 22 after they set out on a mushroom picking trip.
“In the following days Lil’wat Nation, volunteers, friends, Stl’atl’imx Tribal Police, Pemberton RCMP, dozens of SAR teams from all over the province, commercial air services, and Comox 442 Squadron Cormorant attended to the area for an extensive planned search with no success in locating Peter Oleski and River Leo,” the RCMP said in a release.
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Earlier this week, the daughter and sister of the pair set up a GoFundMe campaign to help provide financial assistance to continue the search until the two were found.
The donations were also used for volunteer search trucks, quads and side by sides, food and lodging.
Additional money is apparently will be donated to local restaurants and hardware stores that have donated food and supplies to the volunteer search group.
