Search for missing Coquitlam dog walker stumps rescue crews

Police and search and rescuers say they are perplexed about the disappearance of Annette Poitras, who went missing in Coquitlam Monday around 3 p.m.

Exhaustive efforts in severe weather conditions by rescuers, dogs and helicopter crews had turned up no trace of Poitras by Tuesday afternoon, 24 hours after she vanished.

By that time every known and newly discovered trail in the area had been searched, spotters had scanned the area from the sky, and a thermal imaging camera on the Air One police helicopter had failed to detect heat sources from the 56-year-old woman or the three dogs she is believed to have been walking at the time of her disappearance.

Ian MacDonald, a search manager for Coquitlam Search and Rescue, said rescue teams from the North Shore, Ridge Meadows and Sunshine Coast among other areas had joined the effort, and had covered about 10 to 15 square kilometres of forest during the search.

“We have gone back and forth and criss-crossed that terrain in multiple ways,” MacDonald said. “We’ve done an extremely thorough coverage.”

Search parties had gone out as early as 1 a.m. Tuesday morning and departed a command base at the peak of Plateau Boulevard near Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club as late as 2:30 p.m. But as the sky darkened into the late afternoon, rescuers began to prepare for a return to the area this morning.

Michael McLaughlin, an RCMP spokesman, said biting rain had made the area dangerous and rescuers would have to scale back the search overnight.

McLaughlin said Poitras seemed to have been having “a normal afternoon” before she went missing.

She had spoken to friends and family before going out for a walk around 2 p.m.

The last contact she had was at 3 p.m. by phone.

“Everything seemed normal at the time, but obviously since then something happened,” he said.

Many members of the public turned out Tuesday to help search for Poitras, but that may have hindered efforts by contaminating tracks, McLaughlin said. He urged people to stay away from the area.

“It should go without saying that if it is too dangerous for our expert rescuers, it is too dangerous for the public to come here to do their own attempt at rescue or investigation.”

Poitras is described as standing four feet 11 with a medium build. She has blond hair and blue eyes.

Her nephew Jarret asked people to spread the word about his aunt’s disappearance.

“Hoping the power of positive thoughts and prayers can bring my Auntie Annette home safe and sound,” he wrote on Facebook.

Residents said they had seen Poitras walking dogs in the area in the past, including in a nearby area that has dangerous slopes.