It was a harrowing ordeal when three kids went missing on the Coho Flats Trail, last seen at 1 p.m. and not recovered until shortly after 10 p.m. on March 21.
With an immense show of community support to find them the families are also keen to get word out that they are so thankful to have had the support they did.
Elizabeth Stone, 11, Kali Graham, 9, and brother Parker, 7, had gone for a trail walk with trusty pitbull Blue but the trail, in rough shape from the winter resulted in the hikers getting disoriented and wandering off.
It was an emotional reunion for them to their families that evening but speaking days later the kids say they had plans if they weren’t discovered when they were.
“I was the one who was the bravest,” interjects Parker as the three describe their night. Elizabeth said they could hear cars at one point and followed creeks to work their way to the river where they could likely find there way from.
Kali says if they could make it to the Haisla Bridge then they’d know where to find help.
Blue opted not to comment.
Mom Shari says she is very thankful to the tons of strangers and friends who heeded the call on Facebook for help tracking down the kids, which resulted in an amazing turnout.
In particular she named Chris Rosemeyer, Conner Hodes, and Tony Boraso for their work in the rescue, along with Jon Chisholm who drifted down the Kitimat River to collect the kids from the beach in the dark.
She only adds that she hopes future searches, should they happen, can be done orderly to keep the searchers themselves safe.
Dad Doug Graham said the incident showed him that as much as the town is changing and growing, it’s still a small town with a small town feel given how many people turned out to help.
Police say Search and Rescue was activated but the kids were found before they mobilized.