Two Scout leaders found near Sooke

The search for two Scout leaders, one male and one female in their mid-thirties, who went missing Sunday morning came to a successful conclusion when both were found. Three leaders and five scouts had left Sooke Saturday for a wilderness outing that was cut short by inclement weather; returning to their van, parked on a logging road near Alligator Creek, they found the creek dangerously swollen by heavy rain. Two of the leaders decided to hike out a different way while the third, a local firefighter, stayed with the scouts and called for help on a fire department radio. Vicki Weber, senior manager with Juan de Fuca search and rescue, said her team found the third leader and the scouts, who had spent a wet Saturday night in the woods, but conditions were miserable and the creek was still too high to cross even with the swift-water team. SAR left two members with the scouts and tried to extract them Monday morning; that leader and the five scouts were evacuated Monday. The two missing leaders were experienced outdoors and ex-military, and were assumed to have gotten turned around waiting for help, which proved correct. An RCMP canine unit and, on Monday, a helicopter search also took part.