Search continues for Crawford Bay teacher who vanished while scouting class project site

The search for a B.C. teacher who went missing after heading out to check on a location for a class project continued into its fourth day Thursday.

Alvin Dunic, 57, left Crawford Bay Elementary-Secondary School just before noon Monday to find a good spot to host a class project. He was to return within 30 minutes but never showed up and was reported missing just before 3 p.m.

His car was found two kilometres away, at a trail leading to Crawford Creek. Crawford Bay is about 75 km north of Creston.

“Search and rescue technicians are concentrating their efforts on areas along Crawford Creek and surrounding areas that can be described as areas of high probability,” said RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk in an email update Thursday.

Moskaluk said search efforts continued to include ground search-and-rescue teams, swift-water technicians, an RCMP canine team, and search-and-rescue dogs. An RCMP helicopter was also employed Thursday in the search.

“To date, no sign of Mr. Dunic has been found,” said Moskaluk.

Police have asked the community to steer clear of the search area and to exercise caution when near fast-moving waterways.

Just a day earlier, Kootenay Lake School District Supt. Jeff Jones released a statement about Dunic’s disappearance, noting counselling and support had been made available to staff and students.

“We recognize that many community members would like to help with the search for Mr. Dunic, but would encourage the community to respect the request of the RCMP at this time,” said Jones.