Prince George Search and Rescue spent most of Friday night searching Ness Lake for a body in the water that was never there.
Four people were in a boat on Ness Lake when they struck an island and got stranded there, according to authorities. They indicated there was a fifth person who swam to shore. Mounties and Search and Rescue engaged in an intensive search of the water and shoreline.
"It was a hoax. After two hours of searching is when they admitted to police there was no fifth person," said PG-SAR president Jeff Smedley. "We had 24 searchers, we had our swiftwater specialists there and jet boats. We got the callout at 9:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. (Saturday) was when I returned home. It was dark, of course, and windy like you wouldn't believe out there."
The four - two males and two females, all in their early 20s - were cold, wet and apparently drunk, said Smedley, and were lucky to be alive in the first place.
"Their boat was 50 feet up on the island," he said. "They had been going Mach 10, hit the shore and launched up onto the island. How they were not seriously injured or worse is beyond me, and then to tell a story like that..."
When Smedley last heard from RCMP at the scene, Mounties were in talks with SAR and the four rescue subjects about possible charges.
"In my 29 years of Search and Rescue I have never been on a search where subjects of the search were charged, but it is a high possibility in this case," he said.
The names of the rescue subjects-turned-suspects have not been released. Prince George police were not available for comment to indicate if charges were pending.
