20-year-old hiker missing from park in remote area of northern B.C. found alive after weeks: RCMP

Police in northeastern B.C. say a man who failed to return from a 10-day camping trip in a remote provincial park in mid-October has been found alive.

The RCMP says Sam Benastick’s family reported him missing on Oct. 19, after he didn’t come home from the trip to Redfern-Keily Park, located about 250 kilometres northwest of Fort St. John.

They say the 20-year-old started his hike on Oct. 7, his last update to his family was the following day, and he was supposed to return on Oct. 17.

In an update Wednesday, the Northern Rockies RCMP says Benastick was located Tuesday around 11:30 a.m. 

“Two people were headed to the Redfern Lake trail for work, where they saw a man walking toward them. When they approached the man, they recognized him as Sam Benastick,” Mounties said.

The two men reportedly took Benastick to hospital, where his identity was confirmed. 

Benastick told police he stayed in his car for a couple of days and then walked to a mountainside creek, where he camped out for 10 to 15 days. He then moved down the valley and built a camp and shelter in a dried-out creek bed before making his way to the road where he was found.

Temperatures in the region have recently dipped to about -20 C with snow falling.

The Northern Health Authority confirmed to CityNews that Benastick is “doing well and recovering at Fort Nelson General Hospital.”

Mike Reid, the manager of the Buffalo Inn near Pink Mountain where Benastick’s family was staying while the search was underway, says the family has been informed.

Last month, the RCMP said “extensive resources” had been deployed to find him, including search and rescue personnel and the RCMP police dog services unit.

—With files from The Canadian Press