Calgary, AB,
29
September
2015
|
08:22
America/Denver

Calgary Police Service and Calgary Fire Department Search Bow River

The Calgary Police Service and the Calgary Fire Department will be conducting a search of the Bow River in an attempt to find any missing persons who may have ended up in or on the banks of the river.

The search is part of an operation that involves members of CPS, RCMP, and Edmonton Police searching the North Saskatchewan River and Bow Rivers. The RCMP will also be coordinating its search with the Lethbridge and Medicine Hat City Police Services in the areas of the rivers that flow through those jurisdictions.

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015, CPS will be using HAWC to conduct an aerial search of the Bow River starting at the Bearspaw Dam in the northwest and moving south to the city limits.  

If anything of note is spotted, the Calgary Fire Department Aquatic Rescue divers with members of CPS will be deployed to investigate further.

“The search is not for a specific individual but it is a sad reality that some people voluntarily enter or fall into the dangerous waters of the river and are unable to get themselves out,” says Cst. Lynn MacDonald with the CPS Missing Persons Team. “In conducting the search, we hope to be able to bring some answers to families that have missing loved ones.”

Should any bodies be retrieved, CPS would work with the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the identity of the individual and ensure no criminal offence has been committed.

The search is being conducted as water levels of the Bow River are at their lowest and clearest at this time of year.