When someone dies and their body is located below the surface of a body of water in B.C., grieving loved ones can do little more than stand on shore and lament. No one is mandated to retrieve a body from underwater.
Some communities, like the Lakes District where the family of Syd Neville resides, raise money to hire private outfitters for an underwater recovery mission. Neville disappeared in rough Francois Lake waters on June 7.
But that's not always the case, as Raymond Salmen's widow Daniela knows too well. Her husband disappeared beneath the waves of Harrison Lake, just north of Chilliwack,also on June 7.
"The RCMP have gone above and beyond, for me, but their job does end. Their job is not to go underwater, find him, and bring him to me," said Daniela Salmen. "They tell me they know almost exactly where Ray is in the lake, but there is no one searching for him but if the Ralstons don't come...I mean, it's wonderful that they are up north helping a family up there, but here I am alone, and they may not come to me."
The Ralstons, husband Gene and wife Sandy, are experts in the field of underwater imaging for industrial applications. Their retirement calling was to put their sophisticated sonar equipment and years of experience to work for grieving families and law enforcement investigators on retrieving lost bodies underwater. They put on anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 miles each year, crossing the corners of the continent helping such people.
Once Neville is found, the next name on their list is Salmen, but there is a personal mark on their calendar, a medical consultation they must attend in the United States, which may take them away from B.C. before they can drop a line into Harrison Lake.
"We have until Friday to work on Francois Lake and then we have to head back for our appointment," said Ralston. "If we haven't found Syd by then, we will come back if the family has the funding."
But another challenge is in effect with Salmen. Harrison Lake's underwater terrain is not well suited to the Ralston's kind of sonar. He said an ROV (underwater remotely operated vehicle) with a camera and strong lights is the best option in that sort of aquatic landscape.
Salmen said she had one more ray of hope, opening pleadings with Kongsberg Mesotech of Port Coquitlam to arrange with that company for a mission of mercy. Their underwater search experience led to the successful searches for missing teenagers Kora-Lee Prince and Matthew Karey on Stuart Lake in 2005.
That search won Kongsberg Mesotech and northern B.C. volunteer crew Terrace Water Rescue a pair of international awards from the International Association of Dive Team Specialists - the year's best use of technology and the year's longest underwater search with a successful location of target.
An official with Kongsberg Mesotech told Salmen on Wednesday that the company would at least review what data has already been gathered. That would help determine which equipment would be best used in Harrison Lake. "For side-scan services, Gene Ralston is recommended," the official told her.
Again, the Ralstons.
The Idaho couple have found 87 bodies since 2000, but they aren't a sustainable solution. They are rare in their willingness to work for the price of fuel and incidentals, whereas private companies with an inventory of deep-water imaging equipment have little choice but to charge thousands of dollars per day for its use.
"There aren't many people out there who do it the way we do it, and it is difficult for families to have to wait," said Ralston. "It is first come first served with us, and we hope families understand that. The only exception is if it involves a homicide and there is potential for losing evidence if we delay."
There are currently no plans in place for the province to provide the help the Ralstons offer.
"We have to be strategic with our resources, and there are other areas where a focus of resources would be better placed than [the purpose of expensive hardware and specialist training], but it would be something the province could really use if some other model could be applied," said B.C. Coroners Service spokeswoman Barb McLintock. "On those few occasions we need it, it would be greatly appreciated help."
A B.C. Member of Parliament has been examining the issue and sees value in the general idea. Former B.C. cabinet minister and current federal MP Joyce Murray was in touch with Salmen, who lives in her riding, about how the search on Harrison Lake might be advanced. Murray said it was a years-old problem that no agency has the mandate to locate a body in difficult terrain just for the sake of the loved ones' emotional closure.
"The best example I can think of is Michel Trudeau," she said. The brother of federal Liberal Party leader Justin and former prime minister Pierre was caught by an avalanche into Kokanee Lake in 1998. He remains there to this day.
"In the last few years, underwater imaging technology has exploded," Murray said. "Not long ago, 10 per cent of bodies could be located by sonar and other submersible equipment, but now the chances have gone up to about 90 per cent, if you can pay."
Whether it be a province's initiative or a federal initiative, Murray pointed to the Ralstons as proof that one small, dedicated team could do wonders all over the nation, if the cost is low. Donations to a society-based team (like Search And Rescue or Highway Rescue), or a standing government-paid team could be the answer, she said. Subsidize the big costs up front and it would become affordable for grieving families and communities to pay the transportation and incidental bills specific to their incident.
"We can't all depend on the good intentions of Gene and Sandy Ralston," said Salmen. "In B.C., with all the different kinds of water we have, and all the recreation we do, and all the tourism we try to attract, you'd think we'd already have this kind of service. How can we not be prepared for this? We must fill that gap."
