An Edmonton family is hoping to raise enough money to fund a new search effort to locate a missing woman and her boyfriend using a specialized metal detector attached to a drone.
Ashley Bourgeault, who would have turned 32 this month, and her boyfriend Dominic Neron, 28, were flying a small, single-engine plane from Penticton, B.C. to Edmonton on Nov. 25 when the plane appeared to vanish.
After more than a week of searching, the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria, B.C. called off the exhaustive search on Dec. 4.
The rescue centre said at the time the search had been narrowed to an area 18 kilometres outside Revelstoke, B.C. based on radar information and a signal from the pilot’s phone that was picked up by a cellphone tower.
Although months have passed with no word from the missing couple, Bourgeault’s family remains hopeful they will be found. Nicole Fraser, Bourgeault’s sister-in-law, told CTV Edmonton’s Angela Jung that the family continues to raise money for further search efforts.
“There’s still that one per cent chance. What if they’re out there alive still?” she asked.
Fraser said Bourgeault’s three young children are still waiting for their mother to return.
“Above and beyond what any one of us is feeling, we want their mommy home,” she said.
To find their missing loved one, Fraser said the family has been working with a drone operator in B.C. who has just acquired a lightweight instrument called a magnetometer, which can be attached to a drone.
The magnetometer has the ability to detect metals at a larger depth than conventional metal detectors and at a longer range, the family said.
Sean Adams, a co-owner of 3 Points in Space Media Ltd., an aerial surveillance company that provided the instrument, said magnetometers have traditionally been used in mining to locate mineral deposits or detect unexploded war bombs.
“It is a metal detector that you can put into the air,” Adams said simply.
Adams said he believes the magnetometer should be able to pick up the metal parts from the couple’s plane. He plans to operate the drone in the area where the plane is believed to have gone missing and collect data.
The magnetometer was designed by a German company and normally costs $20,000, but 3 Points in Space Media is lending Adams the instrument for the search at no cost. The company will process any data he collects and plot it out on a map.
However, there is a catch. The family needs to rent a private helicopter to travel to the location where Adams will operate the drone and magnetometer attachment. The helicopter costs $2,000 an hour to rent so Bourgeault’s family is fundraising to pay for the expense.
Because Adams only has the magnetometer until the third week of April, the family is scrambling to raise money as quickly as possible.
Fraser said the family is hosting a silent auction event at a local pub in Edmonton on Saturday. She said they’re hoping to raise $10,000 for the search effort.
“We’re realistic. We know chances are very slim, but until we have that closure, we will always hold onto that hope,” Fraser said.
With files from CTV Edmonton’s Angela Jung
