Skip to content

Search underway after man fails to return from hike in northern B.C. park

Sam Benastick’s family reported him missing after he didn’t come home from Redfern-Keily Park
web1_2024102112100-20241021111016-3a9c3438007bbd4bedb2531d2c7973adefbd23e3c192da83d1f6283938d17dda
Sam Benastick is shown in an RCMP handout photo. Police in northeastern British Columbia say they’re searching for a man who has failed to return from a camping trip in a remote provincial park. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Northern Rockies (Fort Nelson) RCMP

Police in northeastern British Columbia say they’re searching for a man who has failed to return from a 10-day camping trip in a remote provincial park.

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

They say Benastick started his hike on Oct. 7, his last update to his family was the following day, and he was supposed to return last Thursday.

The Mounties say Benastick is an avid hiker and camper, and he left on the trip with a tarp, a black Osprey backpack with red strings and other supplies.

They say “extensive resources” have been deployed to find him, including search and rescue personnel and the RCMP police dog services unit.

Anyone with information or who has visited the Redfern-Keily Park area since Oct. 7 is asked to contact the Northern Rockies RCMP detachment.