An online fundraiser to aid in the search for a missing Greater Victoria man is seeing an outpouring of community support, exceeding its $12,000 goal in less than a day.
On Sunday, the GoFundMe campaign Find our friend Nathaniel launched to help hire a helicopter to get a bird’s eye view in the search for Nathaniel Watters, who was last seen two days prior.
By Monday morning, over $13,000 had been contributed from 125 donors.
“The support has been amazing. Funding a helicopter is one thing; finding one available is another,” said Stu Hoffmann, a close friend of Watters.
“It’s really tough,” he told CHEK News.
“Emotions are close to the surface for sure. I just feel for his family. It’s tough for me. I can’t imagine how they’re feeling right now.”
Watters, 41, was last seen on Friday, July 8, around 4:30 a.m. in the Keating area of Central Saanich, according to police, who’ve classified it as a “high-risk” missing person case.
Central Saanich Police say Watters, a white man standing at 5′ 10″ and weighing around 225 lbs., is believed to be driving a grey 2010 Ford F150 pickup truck with BC plate PJ7371.
His last known location is north of Fairy Lake on a forest service road in Port Renfrew, Hoffmann says.
“We were able to get a private helicopter for an hour around lunchtime yesterday, and another came out of Comox for two hours of flying,” he said, noting crews “flew extensively” hoping to find Watters or his truck.
Without luck, Hoffmann says another boots-on-the-ground search is underway as volunteers comb logging roads around Port Renfrew Monday morning.
“A helicopter can search a big area fast, but the trees here are thick, and we still need to search by 4×4 down every logging road to find him,” said Hoffmann.
“We had about 50 people searching Sunday, and we’re continuing today. We desperately need people to come up and report to the Port Renfrew Fire Hall with appropriate vehicles for logging roads — so 4×4,” he said.
“If they have quads or dirt bikes, that’s a bonus.”
According to Hoffmann, everyone’s keeping Watters and the description of his truck “front of mind” right now. He says updates are being posted to a Facebook group.
“We’re searching this area and the last known location, but it’s possible the truck could be anywhere on Vancouver Island,” he added. “We want as many people as possible to know about the truck and keep an eye out for it.”
Anyone who knows the whereabouts of Watters, or locates the F150, is asked to call 911 or 250-652-4441.
Meanwhile, volunteers are asked to report to the Port Renfrew Fire Hall for search directions or check-in with the hall by phone at 250-647-0101.
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File #22-1975
High Risk Missing Nathaniel WATTERSCentral Saanich Police is asking for the public’s assistance with locating a missing 41 year old male.
Nathaniel Watters was last seen at approximately 4:30am on Friday, July 8, 2022, in the Keating area of Central Saanich. pic.twitter.com/tLJetopqsC
— cspoliceservice (@cspoliceservice) July 9, 2022
Ethan Morneau
