Weather clears for aerial search for missing Errington woman Sara Sherry

Weather conditions in the search area near Nanoose Bay improved Friday, allowing searchers to begin looking from the air in helicopters and a plane for a missing woman who was last seen a week ago.

It was a vital development in the search for 45 year-old Sara Sherry who was last seen on Feb. 15.

“So we’re searching with choppers in strategic areas looking for, you know, those high probable spots where someone might be found, looking at hazards or steep terrain that doesn’t allow searchers to be able to search effectively on the ground,” said Arrowsmith SAR manager Nick Rivers.

“So they’re able to cover off those sections for us and then the planes are doing fixed sweeps of the roads just seeing where they might be able to locate a vehicle on the roadway.”

Sara Sherry was last seen on surveillance video turning off Hwy 19 onto Northwest Bay Logging Road in Nanoose Bay. It was 6:20 p.m. on the Feb. 15.

She was driving a grey 2017 Nissan Frontier pick up truck.

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She hasn’t been seen leaving on the same road and searchers say there really aren’t any other ways to get out of the Mosaic Forest Management lands.

“The status is absolutely the same. It’s an ongoing search. We believe she could be out there and to be as diligent as possible we’re thoroughly searching for her,” said Oceanside RCMP Const. Tim Kenning.

The task is to find the pickup first and hope it will lead to Sherry, so aside from the air support, search crews have been driving the roads since Wednesday night.

“Thousands. Literally thousands of miles of roads. It would be never-ending in a single vehicle by yourself to try to search this area,” Rivers said when asked how vast the search area is.

Mosaic crews have been on alert looking for Sherry as well this week as they drive the back roads hauling timber.

The roads should be open to the public this weekend so if you’re out there and spot Sherry, call 911.

A previous version of this story referred to the missing woman as Sara Shelly. In fact, her name is Sara Sherry. CHEK News regrets this error.

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