Coquitlam SAR scales back ground search for missing hiker Alfred Wong after ‘exhaustive’ six-day effort

Coquitlam Search and Rescue (SAR) has suspended its large-scale ground search for missing Coquitlam hiker Alfred Wong after six days of intensive efforts on Burke Mountain failed to turn up a single clue.

“We basically need to wait for some sort of additional clues here in order to deploy more resources,” said Helena Michelis of Coquitlam SAR. “Unfortunately, it would take a lot of scouring. It’s like a needle in a haystack really to try and find somebody in that large of an area given the terrain.”

Wong, 65, was last seen leaving his home around midday on Tuesday, Nov. 4. After he was reported missing, Coquitlam RCMP later located his grey Chevrolet Cruze at the trailhead of the Coquitlam Lakeview Trail in the 5000-block of Harper Road.

RCMP activated SAR teams at approximately 2:40 p.m. on Nov. 5, and on its first operational day the team deployed about 30 members who worked through the afternoon and late into the night.

Searchers conducted sound sweeps and covered surrounding trails in an effort to prompt a response, but Michelis noted by that point, Wong had already been missing for more than 24 hours.

In the days that followed, the effort expanded into a large multi-agency operation covering Burke Mountain and extending to the Coquitlam River.

Search teams ultimately combed roughly 30 square kilometres of terrain, including established trails and the dense areas between them. The landscape presented significant challenges, with steep slopes, heavy brush, and sections that were effectively impassable.

Those challenges were compounded by days of heavy rain, Michelis said.

“When the rain started – Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – it was torrential rain,” she said. “A lot of those little babbling brooks turned into rushing creeks that were impassable, so that definitely made search efforts difficult.”

Michelis said Wong was a regular hiker and had texted a friend he often hiked with to invite him out that day. He reportedly only went on shorter outings.

He was seen leaving his home at about 12:30 p.m., leaving around four and half hours of daylight left to complete the 7.4 kilometre trail.

Searchers used that information, along with the location of his vehicle, to identify “high probability” zones, which have now been combed multiple times using grid searches and sound sweeps.

Hundreds of volunteers, no clues

Michelis said more than 200 trained searchers took part over six operational days, drawn from Coquitlam SAR and regional SAR teams including Lions Bay, the North Shore, South Fraser, Mission, Kent Harrison, Ridge Meadows and Chilliwack.

Specialized air and technology resources were also deployed, including helicopters and drones with thermal camera from the Civil Air Search and Rescue, a truck that can detect cellphones even if they are turned off, and canine teams.

Despite that response, searchers have found no tracks, clothing, or other physical evidence to narrow their focus, Michelis said, adding that the rain may have washed away clues as well.

With the most likely areas now covered, she said the team made the decision to suspend its full-scale operation.

“The search is suspended in terms of the big response, but it is still on our radar,” Michelis said. “We just don’t have the resources. And having searched all the high probability areas. . . . We tend to scale back once it becomes exhaustive.

“We don’t like to leave a job unfinished. It’s still on our radar, and if we have a clue or reason to go back out there, we absolutely will.”

Wong is described as an Asian male, 65 years old, five-foot-three, with a slim build and balding with grey hair.

Michelis urged anyone who was hiking on Burke Mountain on Tuesday, Nov. 4, to think back carefully to that day.

“We are basically asking the public to search their memories if they were up on the mountain that Tuesday,” she said. “If they recall seeing a lone Asian man fitting his general description, or any other information, that could be a clue to help us get more of a targeted search.”

Anyone who may have seen Wong or has information about his whereabouts is asked to call Coquitlam RCMP at 604-945-1550 and quote file number 2025-28682.