RCMP are en route to Golden Ears Provincial Park tonight, to confirm first hand that missing hiker Esther Wang is alive.
The 16-year-old went missing Tuesday, while hiking the East Canyon Trail.
Reports are that the young woman walked out of the same trail just before 10 p.m. tonight (Thursday, June 29).
RELATED WITH VIDEO: Police continue search for missing teen in Golden Ears Provincial Park
Ridge Meadows Search & Rescue spokesperson Rick Laing, not on scene, said his phone has been blowing up with news from members of the team excited to hear she’s okay.
“Beyond that, I don’t know anything yet,” Laing said, unable to raise anyone on scene yet.
RCMP Sgt. Daniel Rettenbacher confirmed he’d received similar news, but was on his way up to the provincial park to learn more.
Wang was one of four people who went for a hike at around 9 a.m. Tuesday, as part of a youth activity, said Cpl. Julie Klaussner with the Ridge Meadows RCMP earlier in the week.
The group, who were on a camping trip, hiked to Steve’s Lookout and left at around 2:45 p.m. to head back to their campground.
Around 15 minutes into the hike back the group leader was made aware that Wang had been separated from the group.
“As it is when people get tired at different levels of fitness, the group got a little bit separated and when they stopped to check up and wait for each other, they noticed that Esther had fallen behind and they couldn’t locate her,” explained Klaussner.
The group went back to the viewpoint looking for Wang, but they were not able to find her.
It was then that the group leader went to the entrance of the trail and alerted a park ranger who reported Wang missing to police.
Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue were called out and have been actively searching the park. The search had been called off this evening, as it got dark.
• Stay tuned for updates
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