Hikers on Goat Mountain found Gordon Hume, 79, around 4 p.m. today, Creston RCMP Cpl. Monty Taylor reported this evening.
"It looked like he tried to take his ATV down a narrow trail, and was ejected from the ATV," Taylor said.
After he was discovered, Hume was attended by emergency services personnel, who stabilized him and carried him out on a spine board around 6:45 p.m. He was taken straight to Creston Valley Hospital, where his condition, which included what appeared to be a broken hip, was to be assessed. He was also dehydrated, having spent 24 hours lying in the bush.
Although Creston RCMP had asked trail uses to stay off Goat Mountain until the search was complete (preventing confusion for search teams and dogs), these hikers were allowed on the trails after checking in with Creston Search and Rescue.
"This time, it paid off," said Taylor.
From 9 a.m. Aug. 7:
A search is underway for 79-year-old Creston resident Gordon Hume, who has been missing since 3 p.m. yesterday on Goat Mountain, north of Creston, Creston RCMP have reported.
“Gordon Hume had overheard a group of youths on Goat Mountain talking about starting a fire during a fire ban, so he travelled up the mountain on his quad to speak with them,” said Cpl. Monty Taylor in a press release.
Hume, who suffers from minor dementia, did not return, and he was reported missing around 5 p.m. yesterday. The youths are not believed to have anything to do with Hume’s disappearance.
Hume’s quad is a yellow Can-Am, and he was wearing blue jeans, a very pale blue T-shirt and a black helmet.
Creston Search and Rescue teams conducted a ground search into the evening, and the Provincial Emergency Program’s Civil Air Search and Rescue Association began an air search at daybreak.
Creston RCMP are asking users to refrain from accessing Goat Mountain until the search has been completed, and request that anyone that may have seen Hume, including he youths on Goat Mountain at 3 p.m. yesterday, to contact the detachment at 250-428-9313.