Rescued after 2 months in remote B.C. wilderness, Bear Henry survived on canned food and hope
CBC
A 37-year-old missing for more than two months in a heavily forested area of Vancouver Island says they survived on beans, rice, peanut butter, tomato sauce and other canned food.
Bear Henry, a member of Penelakut First Nation, was last seen on Nov. 27, 2021, while on their way to an old-growth logging protest at Fairy Creek. They were reported missing to the Victoria Police Department on Dec. 11, sparking a search that included police helicopters, volunteer ground searches and missing person posters across the island.
On Feb. 9, Henry was found by forestry workers on a logging road near Lake Cowichan, B.C. Henry was brought to a local Tim Hortons, where they were met by officers and family members.
"I pushed my body … 'please just get me through this,'" Henry told reporters on Friday in Victoria, after being released from a Duncan, B.C., hospital where they were assessed for muscle loss and possible kidney issues.
Henry said before the ordeal, they weighed more than 300 pounds. They had lost a fifth of that.
"[Bear] survived 10 weeks in the worst winter storms, with no food and no running water, other than what was coming out of the stream," said Henry's aunt, Rose Henry. "I'm really grateful to the Creator."
En route to Fairy Creek, Henry's camper van — stocked with a few days' worth of food — slid off a road into a ravine, out of sight to searchers.
They said previous survival advice from their uncle — such as staying put where you get lost if possible, conserving one's energy levels, and always carrying a knife and lighters — helped as temperatures plummeted in December and food dwindled.
"It came back in those moments: know when to rest, know your limits, know when to ration, only take little sips," Henry said.
In a statement, RCMP Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said the Mounties took over the investigation on Dec. 29. RCMP searched the expansive area by air, but with no specific starting point for the search, it was like "finding a needle in a haystack," she said.
"There had been significant snowfall, which was obstructing the roadway and would have hampered aerial search efforts. As well, the area is heavily wooded and any vehicles that may be under the canopy would be unlikely to be seen from overhead."
Investigators looped in Cowichan Search and Rescue on Jan. 13, Shoihet said, which was conducting ATV training in the area. The group used the opportunity to search for Henry, but did not search by foot due to a lack of information on a starting point, she added.
A Cowichan SAR spokesperson said it was prepared to "deploy at any moment" but needed more specific physical clues to start a search "once there was more information to go on."
At one point, Henry said, they saw an RCMP search helicopter, but were unable to catch its attention with a silver emergency blanket and arm gestures.
