Coquitlam RCMP have suspended the search for a missing hiker after a week of concentrated effort by dozens of searchers from Coquitlam Search and Rescue and other volunteer search groups.
Police say they are ceasing the search for Ali Naderi in the Eagle Mountain area but are keeping the investigation open.
“The expert SAR volunteers from Coquitlam, and their colleagues from other search teams, have scoured every nearby trail and checked potential off-trail locations,” stated Cpl Michael McLaughlin in a press release. “But given the timeframe that Naderi has been gone, his lack of supplies, and the vast backcountry where he went missing, it doesn’t make sense to continue searching and potentially put our SAR teams at risk”.
Naderi went missing on the trails near Eagle Mountain in Coquitlam on Aug. 23. His car was found near a series of hiking trails in the 2500 block of Diamond Crescent, Coquitlam just before 9 p.m. that night.
Naderi was known to hike alone in that area almost daily. However, a concerned citizen called police after observing that Naderi’s vehicle had been parked many hours longer than usual.
After a call went out for sightings, Coquitlam RCMP received a photo of Ali Naderi taken as he was hiking up a trail on Eagle Mountain on Aug.23 the day he went missing.
On Aug. 27, the search was briefly halted while searchers regrouped, but has now been suspended.
However, people are still being asked to provide any helpful information they may have to the emergency number at 604-945-1550 and to quote file number 2020-22677.
Naderi is described as a 52-year-old Persian man, with black, salt and pepper hair that curls over his ears, and brown eyes, his height is 178 cm (5’10) and he weighs 80 kg (176 lbs). Naderi was last seen wearing dark-coloured shorts, a dark-coloured, lightweight hiking jacket, and carrying hiking poles.
The Coquitlam RCMP investigation will stay open until Naderi is found.
