UPDATE:
A seven-year-old missing Chilliwack girl has been found alive.
Lily Coursol was found on Friday, May 2, after she went missing from Winona Road in the Chilliwack River Valley the previous day around 4 p.m.
"I have some spectacular news," said Insp. Jeff Bowerman. "Lily's been located, at 3:54 p.m... she's in good health as far as we can tell."
Chilliwack RCMP had just wrapped up a press conference when media were called back to the detachment for the good news. Bowerman said that Lily had wandered "quite a distance" from her home, but was in good enough shape to walk out on foot with the search-and-rescue team in place.
"I really want to the opportunity to thank the citizens of Chilliwack that assisted in this search," he said. "This is fantastic news."
In the first press conference, Bowerman had explained the lengths that rescuers had already gone to in order to find the young girl. She had chased some neighbour's dogs into the woods beside her home on Thursday (May 1) at about 4 p.m. Five minutes later, he said, the dogs returned but Lily did not.
She had been wearing all pink, including a pair of pink Crocs.
A massive search was launched immediately by neighbours in the closely knit rural area, and they were joined by RCMP. The search went through the night.
ORIGINAL STORY:
People in Chilliwack gathered Thursday evening to help in the search for a missing seven-year-old girl, and she still hadn't been found by Friday at noon.
Chilliwack RCMP put a call out at 10 p.m. Thursday night, asking for the public's help to find Lily Coursol, who was reported missing on May 1.
Chilliwack Search and Rescue is on scene with a command unit, and crews from around the Fraser Valley were out until about 5 a.m., according to searchers on scene.
They are conducting a full search on the ground, and using drones in the area, as well.
According to a Chilliwack RCMP news release, crews are using 鈥渁ll technological resources available鈥� to find Coursol.
They are urging those who want to help to stay away from the area and let the search and rescue teams do their work. Initially there were about 20 neighbours searching for the girl into the night, and a call was put out for more searchers to arrive Friday morning.
But by Friday morning, officials decided to stick with trained search crews, and those who arrived were turned away. A police checkpoint is in place along Sleese Road.
"We understand the public鈥檚 concern and wanting to help; however, the search consists of difficult terrain and is a heavily wooded area. Untrained personnel in the area will make search efforts more difficult and put others at unnecessary risk," Chilliwack RCMP said.
Coursol was last seen around 4 p.m. in the 50800 block of Winona Road. Police say the child apparently followed her neighbour's dogs into a wooded area but did not return with them. An air and ground search are currently underway.
Description of Lily:
- Caucasian girl
- 7 years
- 4 ft (122 cm)
- light brown hair
- brown eyes
She was last seen wearing all pink clothing.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Lily Coursol is urged to contact their local police, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
