Search called off until morning for missing hiker near Nanaimo, B.C.

An outpouring of community support is behind rescue efforts to find a 20-year-old hiker near Nanaimo, B.C., who has been missing since Saturday afternoon.

"At this point there's over 80 searchers involved — a number of ATVs and numerous people from the community showing up with horses and blood hounds," said Const. Gary O'Brien. 

"In fact I've never seen an effort of this magnitude."

Nanaimo RCMP say search efforts to find Spencer Hunt have been called off for the night but will resume Monday morning. 

They say Hunt was with a group of hikers, which included his mother and family friends, who set off for Ammonite Falls at 2 p.m. PT Saturday.

His friends called RCMP after he got separated from the group and  didn't return to their parked car by 5 p.m.

"The last time they saw him he was just ahead of them on the trail and then they lost sight of him," he said.

O'Brien said the hike is only three hours return but in steep terrain and with a lot of side trails. 

"You can easily get lost," he said. 

Temperatures along top sections of the trial were hovering around 0 C last night, he added. Hunt is unprepared for those conditions, wearing only a sweater and sneakers and doesn't have any food or water. 

O'Brien wouldn't get into details but said there were other concerns with Hunt that indicated he may be quite agitated at the moment and not respond to his name. 

Rescue teams, including a police services dog, searched for Hunt until 4 a.m. and took a short break before continuing their efforts again at daybreak.

Hunt is described as:

• 20-year-old First Nations male.
• Five feet 10 inches and 140 pounds.
• Brown hair, brown eyes and may be wearing glasses.
• Wearing a red hoodie, blue jeans and running shoes.

RCMP are asking anyone who sees him to call 911 immediately.

Anyone looking to contribute to the search should first check in with the command centre set up in the main parking lot at Creekside Place.