Over $20K worth of stolen search and rescue gear found in Squamish 

An RCMP vehicle can be seen in this photo from May 4, 2024. (Darren Wright/CTV News Edmonton)

More than $20,000 worth of search and rescue equipment stolen from BC Parks has been recovered, says the Sea-To-Sky RCMP.

Police say the equipment was stolen on two separate occasions.

On Oct. 18, Whistler RCMP were called to a break-in at a BC Parks storage unit, where a large number of items had been stolen overnight, Mounties said in a release.

Over a month later, on Nov. 21, police received another report of an overnight theft from a vehicle. The stolen search and rescue equipment from both the incidents racked up to just over $20,000, police said.

Some of the stolen gear was recovered a week later, when Squamish RCMP stumbled across it in the Squamish Valley region while attending an unrelated police matter.

Further BC Parks and search and rescue gear was found Nov. 29, when Mounties conducted a search warrant in the Squamish Valley area, the release said.

“We are thankful that some high-end items were able to be recovered and will be returned to their rightful owners,” said Sgt. Gareth Bradley.

“It is our priority to keep the community safe and it is always an added bonus when we can locate and return items that have been stolen. Thank you to those officers who kept on the lookout for these important and valuable items,” he said.

In light of the incident, police are urging anyone who has had items stolen from them to contact their local RCMP as soon as they are aware. Police receive or recover lost and stolen items on a regular basis and are “always seeking to return property to its rightful owner,” the release said.

Should such an incident arise, proof of ownership will be required from the owner, it added.