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Searchers use helicopters, boats and dogs to help locate David Leggett

Missing West Vancouver man thought to be in Squamish area
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STILL SEARCHING David Leggett is missing and presumed to be somewhere near Shannon Falls where his car was found on Dec. 9. Photo courtesy of the RCMP

David Leggett didn't tell anyone where he planned to go after he parked his car at Shannon Falls earlier this month.

Search and rescue manager Murray Watt said this is making the efforts to find Leggett very challenging as volunteers are looking for what Watt described as a needle in 50 haystacks.

Leggett's vehicle was found at Shannon Falls on Sunday, Dec. 9 after the West Vancouver Police asked for help from the Squamish RCMP. The West Vancouver request came after Leggett's family back east reported him missing earlier last week.

Watt said the car was found with snow on it, indicating to him it had been parked there for some time.

"The RCMP search dog did a search of the area before the daylight went down," Watt said of the actions taken on that first day.

Human searches conducted a grid search at Shannon Falls on Monday and more police dogs were called in to search trails in the area between Shannon Falls and Stawamus Chief Provincial Park that day. Watt said the icy conditions prevented volunteer search and rescue members from being sent up the Chief to look for Leggett but he said a request for helicopter assistance was granted.

"We do not search with helicopters because it is ineffective but in this case because of the risk to the searchers and the upper Chief is mostly open slick rock I was able to get that for an hour," said Watt.

Leggett was not spotted by the three spotters involved in the air search of the top of the Chief.

Watt also called for an eastern Howe Sound shoreline search on Tuesday. The Royal Marine Search and Rescue team in Squamish responded along with 441 Squadron based at Comox. According to Watt, a detailed search was done by water and by air from Watts Point north and that effort produced no new information.

"We don't know what he was wearing and we don't know what his intent was," Watt noted.

Searchers were back out on the lower elevation trails in the area of the Chief on Wednesday despite wet, icy and slippery conditions on many of the trails.

Watt said the search will continue until Leggett is found.