Trust funds have been set up to help those currently searching for a missing Red Deer man in northern British Columbia.

Dustin Steele, 23, was in a truck that was swept down the Skeena River, said his cousin Bryon Miller of Red Deer. Steele went missing on Nov. 1st.

Two others that were with him eventually made it to shore, but Steele is still missing. The truck was pulled from the river on Nov. 4th. not far from where it went into the river on the Copper River flats area east of Terrace.

Miller said to help those involved with the search, two trust funds have been set up to cover costs such as lost wages and other expenses that come up as the situation unfolds. The funds are set up at ATB and Toronto Dominion Bank branches across Alberta and B.C., he said.

“They’re going to try and search more, but I don’t know how much longer they will be looking,” said Miller, describing the Skeena River as cold and fast moving. Apparently the truck the men were in became stuck and the strength of the river’s current pulled it in.

Const. Angela Rabut said on Monday that the search had been called off at that point due mainly to weather. “The river is really, really high with the amount of rainfall we’ve had in this area,” she said, adding that it’s unfortunately fairly common for people to go missing in the Skeena River. “This has definitely happened before.

“The exact reasons for why they were down there I can’t say, but people quite often will go down there just to hang out.” She again emphasized the power of the river, pointing out it’s not very far from the ocean as the crow flies.

“All of the other rivers dump into the Skeena, and it’s a main branch.

“And at this time of year, it’s extremely high. We’ve had a huge amount of rainfall and it can be quite unpredictable with how strong the current is.”

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