Overview

• 39-year-old Andrew Barber was found Aug. 8 beside his broken-down truck near McLeese Lake after an RCMP helicopter spotted his makeshift shelter.
• Barber survived on pond water and foraged food, built a shelter against a rock bearing an SOS message and sustained a leg injury alongside severe dehydration.
• RCMP and volunteer search teams scoured hundreds of kilometres of forest-service roads over nine days in what officials likened to finding a needle in a haystack.
• On-scene responders stabilized Barber before medevac to Cariboo Memorial Hospital, where he received treatment and has since been released to his family.
• Authorities said the reasons Barber was in the remote, boggy area remain unclear, underscoring risks of backcountry travel without a clear plan.