RCMP ask public for video footage to help find missing B.C. rancher
Ben Tyner, 32, was last seen on Jan. 26 in Nicola, B.C.
Mounties investigating the disappearance of B.C. rancher Ben Tyner, 32, are now asking the public for video footage.
Anyone who drove through Merritt or the Nicola Valley between Jan. 25 and Jan. 27 is being asked by Merritt RCMP to supply footage from dashboard-mounted cameras or other recording devices to the police as they search for clues.
Tyner was reported missing on Jan. 28, when his riderless horse was discovered on a logging road off Highway 97 near Winnie Flats. The horse was geared and saddled.
Following his reported disappearance, police and a dozen search teams combed the snowy backcountry about 80 kilometres south of Kamloops for a week.
Tyner, originally from Wyoming, works at a cattle ranch near Nicola, B.C., and was last seen there on Jan. 26.
After his disappearance, Tyner's parents and brother travelled from the U.S. to help in the two-week-long search effort. Tyner's mother, Jennifer Tyner, described her son as the kind of guy "who would help anyone for whatever they needed."
When the search was called off, she told reporters the prospect of never seeing his smile, hearing his infectious laugh, having him wrap his arms around her or seeing him realize hs dreams was "unthinkable."
The RCMP's Major Crime Unit has since joined the investigation, but police say there's no evidence to suggest foul play.