A 32-year-old Saanich woman who had been missing for more than two weeks has been found safe near Woss Lake, after searchers received reports that she may have been seen at a local boat launch.
Taisia Verbitchi was located Sunday on the eastern shore of Woss Lake, about five kilometres from the Woss Lake Campground, according to Campbell River Search and Rescue manager Daryl Beck.
Search crews had initially focused on the eastern side of the lake after Verbitchi was dropped off in the area on July 22.
She was last known to have been walking away from a forest service road carrying a backpack with a sleeping mat attached to the side. Verbitchi had reportedly told others she planned to camp with friends on the west side of Woss Lake, north of Woss Lake Park.
Saanich police issued a public appeal for information Friday after Verbitchi was reported missing.
The following day, about 15 search-and-rescue members searched trails and shoreline areas near where she was last seen.
Crews used ATVs, side-by-sides, search dogs and drones, while police conducted an aerial search of the lake.
According to Beck, RCMP asked search crews to stand down around 5 p.m. Saturday, although police continued searching the following day.
Verbitchi was eventually spotted from a boat by a conservation officer on Sunday. Beck said she was found roughly five kilometres from the Woss Lake Campground along the eastern shoreline.
“Somehow, she got from the west side of the lake where she was last seen to the east side,” Beck said.
Beck added that she was located about one kilometre outside one of the search zones that crews had planned for the eastern side of the lake.
Members of the Woss community had previously reported possible sightings of Verbitchi near a boat launch, although it remains unclear how she travelled to the remote area where she was found.
Verbitchi’s mother, Aliona Verbitchi, who lives in Alberta, said she is grateful to everyone who helped in the effort to locate her daughter.
