“A higher power” must have led family and friends to the site of the body of a Keremeos man missing for more than a week, says Cst. Lesley Smith, media relations officer for the BC RCMP.
The body of Dennis Gudmundson and his motorcycle were located down an embankment on Highway 5 close to Blue River, some 55 km south of Valemount, said Smith.
RCMP had already done a thorough search of the area by air and on foot during the week prior to the discovery. On Friday, the day before the body was found, the highway maintenance operator, Lakes District Maintenance cut about 4-6 feet of foliage along the side of the highway, Smith says, which would have cleared the view of the embankment.
On Saturday June 14th, it was a friend who happened upon the site of the accident.
Smith said family and friends met along the highway to start their own search for Gudmundson who had been missing for close to a week. They were headed towards each other in opposite directions and happened to cross paths about 55 km south of Valemount
They parked along the highway to greet each other and one of the members of the party began searching the embankment when he spotted the undercarriage of Gudmundson’s motorcycle and shortly after discovered the body. Both were well concealed by foliage, which had made it difficult to spot using aerial searches, Smith said. She added it sometimes takes years to discover vehicles that have gone off the road due to the concealing effect of heavy brush. In this case, the motorcycle was upside down, leaving no shiny chrome visible from above.
Smith said there were no brake marks or debris on the highway. In other investigations, an autopsy usually confirms the motorist fell asleep or had a medical problem.
Valemount RCMP and the BC Coroners Service are currently investigating the incident to determine what caused his motorcycle to leave the roadway. An autopsy is being performed.
