Remains Found Seven Years After Man’s Disappearance

The remains of an Australian man who went missing seven years ago, have been found near Grand Forks.

The BC Coroners Service says Owen Rooney was 24 when he went missing on August 14, 2010.

“Mr. Rooney left the Boundary Hospital in Grand Forks on that evening, leaving his belongings behind,” says a release from Barb McLintock of the Coroner’s Service. “He had been hitchhiking back to Kelowna where he was living after a trip to the Shambala music festival near Salmo. Despite extensive searches at the time, he could not be located.”

Rooney’s remains were found near Hardy Mountain last month by search and rescue members on a training excercise.

The Coroners Service says it’s now trying to determine what caused Mr. Rooney’s death.

Rooney’s family, who returned to Australia after spending more than six months in Canada looking for Owen, has been notified of his death.

“The BC Coroners Service would like to thank the Grand Forks RCMP and members of the search-and-rescue teams who, over a period of almost seven years, never gave up on trying to discover what had happened to Mr. Rooney,” says the release.

Photo of Owen Rooney courtesy of CBC