North Shore rescuers are preparing to launch a last-ditch search for a missing British tourist this weekend, to take advantage of an expected break in the weather.
Helicopter and ground search teams from North Shore Rescue, including dog teams, will head into three key areas of Crown Mountain and Hanes Valley that rescuers have determined are the most likely locations of 22-yearold Thomas Billings. "If we don't find him in those areas, we will most likely be in a monitoring phase after that," said team leader Tim Jones.
"We've really done our due diligence."
The search this weekend is being planned after online video footage from an extensive air reconnaissance over the North Shore Mountains resulted in a tip.
A trail runner who saw the video came forward to say she and a friend saw Billings Nov. 25 in the Lynn Headwaters area and had a conversation with him.
The runner told North Shore Rescue that Billings was determined to get to Crown Mountain that day, despite being warned not to.
Jones said their best guess is that Billings ran out of daylight, then tried to make it back through particularly difficult terrain.
As the search this weekend is being planned, Jones said he's also urging surveillance cameras be set up at the entrance to Lynn Headwaters and Lynn Canyon.
In many cases - including Billings' disappearance - those who go missing haven't told anyone where they are heading, said Jones.
If surveillance camera footage was available to help narrow down the search area, in several recent cases, "my feeling is they could have made a difference," said Jones.
The search for Billings - a backpacker who went missing Nov. 25 - has been hampered over the past month by a lack of information.
Billings didn't tell anyone he was heading out for a hike in the North Shore mountains and didn't carry a cellphone with him.
Until recently, searchers only had information from Billings' computer to go on, showing he had looked up several possible hikes, including some on the North Shore.
Jones said the search was further hampered by bad weather conditions and the fact Billings wasn't reported missing until two weeks after he disappeared. "We had a bad set of cards delivered to us," he said.
After official searches were called off in December, volunteer rescuers continued to look for Billings on most days, said Jones. They also used helicopter time paid for privately by Billings' family.
Jones acknowledged rescuers don't expect to find Billings alive, and have told that to his family.
"We have to be very honest. It's a recovery operation," he said.
