Body found on logging road might be missing senior, 82

There’s been a possible development in the search for a missing 82-year-old Oak Bay woman.

Oak Bay police said a body has been located about 11 kilometres from where Gladys Barman’s car was found July 21 on a remote logging road southwest of Lake Cowichan.

Efforts are underway to identify the body, police said, and Barman’s family has been notified.

Police said the B.C. Coroners Service is taking the lead in the investigation because there is no suspicion of foul play.

Barman was last seen at 10 a.m. on July 5 when she was captured on video surveillance cameras filling up her dark green 2002 Honda Accord at a Petro-Canada gas station on West Saanich Road.

Friends and family realized something was wrong the following day when she failed to deliver the Times Colonist — a job she’d been doing without fail for 23 years.

Family said Barman had recently started to exhibit early signs of confusion, but she remained a vibrant and active volunteer with the Thrifty Foods Sendial grocery delivery program and the Times Colonist Book Sale.

On July 11, the search shifted to the Maple Bay area after police received a call advising that a woman matching Barman’s description had asked for directions from someone on Stoney Hill Road. Cowichan Search and Rescue were called in to search around Maple Bay and Genoa Bay.

The trail went cold again until Barman’s car was found July 21 by an off-road motorcyclist southwest of Lake Cowichan.

The discovery sparked an intensive search involving police, police dogs, an RCMP helicopter, remotely controlled drones, and search and rescue crews.

The search was suspended last week, but crews and dogs resumed the hunt once temperatures cooled. They found a body Tuesday.

More information will be released once the body is identified, police said.