Caseof missing sailors now deemed suspicious

UCLUELET Police on Vancouver Island say the disappearance of two men who were last seen May 16 is now considered suspicious and the case has been handed over to the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit.

RCMP have said 37-year-old Daniel Archibald and 43-year-old Ryan Daley were last seen leaving Ucluelet harbour by land on May 16 after docking a sailboat there three days earlier and were reported missing after they failed to contact family and friends. Ucluelet RCMP said late Wednesday that they have pursued a number of methods to find the men, including an aerial search, and are now asking for the public’s help to find them.

Archibald and Daley were seen carrying large duffel bags at the time of their disappearance and Daley was also wearing a yellow and green backpack. Friends who launched a Facebook page said it’s believed the two men were heading to a residence in Jordan River, and likely planned to hitchhike the nearly 300-kilometre route.

Ucluelet dockmaster Kevin Cortes, who was the last person to see them on May 16, said they had paid for one month of moorage for a new boat they had purchased in Panama.

Cortes said Archibald and Daley were healthy but tired after a long trip, adding there was nothing unusual about them during the three days they spent in Ucluelet.

Both men are described as five foot nine. Archibald is of average build with strawberry-blond, short hair, and Daley has short, dark hair and hazel eyes.

“We ask anyone who has any information as to Daniel and Ryan’s whereabouts or anyone who may have seen them or talked to them between May 13 to 16 to call police immediately,” said Cpl. Madonna Saunderson in a news release.