Crews search for man believed to have fallen into Coquitlam River
Search crews believe Robert Belding, 59, was trying to save dog from surging river when he fell in
Search and rescue crews and police are searching for a man who is believed to have fallen into the swollen Coquitlam River on Sunday.
Coquitlam RCMP said Robert Belding, 59, was last seen near Pipeline Road and Galette Avenue at about 5 p.m. PT.
"I'm trying to be hopeful. I'm not feeling well right now," son Ethan Belding said. "I hope to find my dad."
He said his father was at a neighbour's house that had flooded in the weekend's torrential rain before he went missing.
Coquitlam Search and Rescue search manager Ian MacDonald said while nobody saw it happen, crews believe Belding was trying to save a dog from the river — which was surging from two days of heavy rain from an atmospheric river system — when he fell in.
The dog was later found by local residents after it made it to shore, MacDonald said.
He said crews searched for Belding along the river's banks on Monday and would resume the search on Tuesday by boat on the Fraser River near the Port Mann Bridge, close to the mouth of the Coquitlam River.
MacDonald said the banks of the river were unstable after flooding from all the rain, and the river itself was very dangerous.
"When you've got a torrential downpour, it leads to very fast-flowing water, and the water is cold; it's full of debris," MacDonald said. "We always hope for the best, and we certainly hope we will find the subject alive."
In response to questions about why rescuers had not deployed dive teams yet, MacDonald told CBC's On The Coast that that decision would be left up to the RCMP dive team, and Coquitlam SAR would not carry out that operation.
"Quite honestly, I would be very surprised if they would go into the Coquitlam River at this time because of how dangerous it is," he said.
Police describe Belding as standing five feet 10 inches tall, with brown eyes and short brown hair. Anyone who may have seen Belding or knows where he might be is asked to contact Coquitlam RCMP at 604-945-1550 and quote file number 2024-27890.
Torrential rain
Sunday capped off a weekend of torrential rains that saw rivers swell and triggered debris slides and flooding across the Lower Mainland.
Environment Canada data shows Coquitlam received 256 millimetres of rain between Friday and Sunday night, as an atmospheric river swept across southern B.C.
On Saturday, the rain caused a mudslide in another part of the city that washed away a home, killing its owner, a local elementary school teacher.
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With files from On The Coast