The disappearance of a Port Moody, B.C., woman has triggered a large search by members of her community, as well as police and search and rescue teams.
Trina Hunt, 48, has been missing from her home in the Heritage Mountain area since Monday, according to the Port Moody Police Department.
Officers say Hunt was last seen Monday morning by her husband at home as he left for work. When he returned to find her missing, he immediately called 911.
“The reality is, it is out of character for her to have gone missing this way,” said Sgt. Ian Morrison with Port Moody police.
He says the department immediately kicked off a search for Hunt that included the RCMP Air Service, the Lower Mainland K-9 Unit and Coquitlam Search and Rescue.
“All those folks were amazing and helped us out in the initial search,” he said.
Morrison says Coquitlam Search and Rescue are no longer actively searching at this point. He says officers are working on identifying a certain area before asking them to continue their search.
Hunt is described as five feet, four inches tall and weighing 120 pounds. Police believe she is wearing a black North Face jacket with a teal green collar and pink and purple shoes.
A post in a Facebook group dedicated to finding Hunt says “hundreds of people were searching” on Wednesday, combing through the dense forest and parks of the Heritage Mountain area.
“On behalf of beloved Trina’s family and friends, we are beyond grateful for the assistance we have received today in many forms,” read the post.
‘Incredible’ community effort
Among those volunteering Thursday morning was Alison Sagar, who said she was a co-worker of Hunt’s husband.
She dropped off hand sanitizer to a driveway donation table and said she would be helping look for security cameras that might have unseen footage.
“It’s incredible to see the number of people that have reached out,” Sagar said. “We’re still hopeful … Hopefully we can make a difference.”
Jessica Suryavanshi, who was at the donation table with Tazeem Nanji, said a steady stream of socks, hand sanitizer, masks, hand warmers and fresh baked goods rolled in all day Thursday.
“Our community is so incredible the way they’ve just gathered around this family to help,” said Nanji. “It’s amazing.”
The Facebook group has asked community members to review their security footage, help with putting up posters and join the search.
Along with police, they are asking anyone who does go out searching to do so safely with another person.
“We haven’t told citizens to go look and nor are we in a position to tell them not to. We understand a member of our community has gone missing and they feel compelled to help and assist,” Morrison said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Port Moody police non-emergency line at 604-461-3456.
