Intense search
Couple report woman suddenly disappearing from bridge in Covehead
No one has yet been reported missing on P.E.I., but then again, no one has come forward to say it was them in the middle of Covehead bridge at 1 a.m. Tuesday.
As such, a search effort will continue Wednesday after a night’s rest for a group of search and rescue staff and volunteers.
The RCMP issued a statement Tuesday saying that a couple called 911 around 1 a.m. after seeing a woman they believed to be 50-60 years old standing in the middle of the bridge.
When the couple turned back to see if she needed help, the woman was gone.
The RCMP report that the couple searched the area below the bridge but there was no sign of the woman.
The RCMP, 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron out of Greenwood, N.S., Parks Canada staff, the North Shore Fire Department, P.E.I. Ground Search and Rescue volunteers and local fishermen all joined the search as the day progressed.
A military Cormorant search and rescue helicopter and an RCMP helicopter joined the search Tuesday.
“We are taking all precautions because we believe what the people said they saw,” said RCMP spokeswoman Leanne Butler.
“Nobody has been reported missing, but if you think about it closely, if someone (you know) lives alone, if you didn’t call them in a couple of days, you wouldn’t miss them,” she said late Tuesday.
Another option might be someone who is a visitor, perhaps someone visiting the Island alone, said Butler.
Also on Tuesday, the RCMP issued notes on Twitter and Facebook asking for anyone to come forward if they were the person on the bridge, or knew who it was.
“No one has called, so we haven’t had any success that way either,” said Butler.
“They have de-escalated the search for the evening, which is quite normal,” she said.
“Rescue personnel have been sent home as they have had some long hours there, so they have gone home to rest.”
A command post remained active with a supervisor on duty overnight, she said.
Deeper, underwater searching is being considered for Wednesday, said Butler.
Anyone with any information on this incident is asked to contact the RCMP at 902-368-9300, or make anonymous contact with Crime Stoppers on the Internet at http://www.peicrimestoppers. or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/peicrimestoppers, or by anonymous text using SMS by sending “TIP162” plus your message to (274637) CRIMES, or with a toll-free phone call to 1877-222-8477.