New clues sought in search for plane

KAMLOOPS — Members of a volunteer search and rescue organization are reviewing what they know so far in a nearly 10-month search for a small plane that went missing on a flight over southeastern B.C. in the hopes of finding new information.

Fred Carey of the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association says cellphone details previously provided a probable route for the single-engine Piper piloted by Alex Simons, 21, of Kamloops.

He and Sydney Robillard, 24, from Lethbridge, Alta., were travelling to Kamloops last June when their plane disappeared.

The flight began in Lethbridge and the plane was last seen in Cranbrook, where the pair stopped for fuel.

The military has said more than 70 Royal Canadian Air Force personnel and 137 volunteers were involved in the search for the plane in the days after it went missing on June 8, 2017.

Carey says the association reviews its searches to determine if there is a piece of information they can use that might help them resume a search.

“What we are looking for is new ideas,” he said.

The missing plane is one of three unresolved searches for small aircraft in B.C.

Alberta resident Dominic Neron, 28, and his girlfriend Ashley Bourgeault, 31, disappeared between Penticton and Edmonton last November.

Meanwhile, 60-year-old Ron Boychuk disappeared in October 2007 while flying from Revelstoke to the Nanaimo area.