Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are searching for a missing American adventure racer in British Columbia, Canada.
The United States Adventure Racing Association (USARA) today said it became aware that Peter Jolles went missing while packrafting in Canada.
Jolles, 46, recently competed with Team Checkpoint Zero in Expedition Canada, which ended on Saturday, June 11, in Penticton, British Columbia. According to a USARA release, Jolles recently lived in Virginia and explored nearby Bugaboo Creek by raft following the race.
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Jolles was packrafting alone near Spillimacheen, British Columbia, on Sunday, June 19. But he never pulled into his designated take-out spot, where his girlfriend awaited his arrival, per the release. She reported this to the Columbia Valley RCMP, and a local search-and-rescue team initiated an effort to locate him, the USARA said.
The team located Jolles’ packraft but could not find him and resumed the search on Monday, June 20, according to the report. They then continued the search on Tuesday, but the USARA said high water conditions halted operations, noting today that once the team deems conditions safe again, it will resume the search.
“USARA is holding out hope that Peter is alive and OK and that he is located soon,” the organization stated. “As an avid adventure racer for more than two decades, Peter touched so many lives in the AR community in the United States and around the world. We remain hopeful he returns to us and his family.”
The group expressed its thanks to the RCMP and the local search-and-rescue authorities for aiding in the search. The USARA also said it’s been in touch with Jolles’ friends and teammates and promised to gather and share as much information as possible with the adventure racing community. At this time, it said, the RCMP and local search-and-rescue teams have requested that the public not assist with the search.
The USARA encouraged anyone who has any information regarding Jolles’ whereabouts to contact the Columbia Valley RCMP at 1-250-342-9292 and cite file 2022-1463.
