When a local man failed to hit his SPOT, Fernie Search and Rescue (FSAR) was called out to search the Flathead. FSAR was called at 1am on Tuesday, July 23 to look for a 65 year old local man presumed missing in the Flathead.
He had pressed a SPOT device to signal that he was okay on Sunday evening at 7:30 pm. SPOT is a GPS tracking device that uses a satellite network to provide text messaging and GPS tracking. When he had failed to do the same on Monday evening, the alarm was raised.
The man's empty vehicle was located during the night by a friend, and search teams converged on the area in the morning around Tombstone Mountain.
The search, which involved 12 members of Fernie Search and Rescue, Bighorn Helicopters, the Conservation Officer Service and a fixed wing aircraft from CASARA (Civil Air Search and Rescue Association) was successful in locating the man at 2:30 pm the same day. He was unharmed and unaware of the search for him, having not realized that his friends were expecting an "okay" on the Monday night.