Human remains identified to bring closure to decades long case

Sep 30, 2019 | 5:06 PM

Two Shuswap families who have gone more than three decades wondering where their loved ones have gone now have a sense of closure.

RCMP and the BC Coroners Services have positively identified human remains found on Sept. 18 2018 as those of Ernie Whitehead and Len Dykhuizen.

The remains were discovered at the site of a historical aircraft crash. The white Piper Super Club float plane was reported missing after departing from the Eagle Bay area on June 20, 1987.

The two men were destined to reach McDougall Lake.

Investigators used DNA analysis to confirm the identity of the remains.

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“BC RCMP can now confirm that those remains belonged to Ernie Whitehead and Len Dykhuizen, both from the Eagle Bay area at the time of their disappearance. says Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey, Media Relations Officer for the BC RCMP Southeast District.

“RCMP are pleased that we have now been able to provide their family with answers to some long standing questions. This discovery ends over three decades of uncertainty.”

The discovery of the remains came after the Joint Rescue Coordination Center began a search for an unrelated aircraft and search and rescue crews came across the plane crash site near McDougall Lake in Wells Grey Provincial Park.

“The distinctively old crash site was amongst extremely rugged and very treacherous terrain.”

The scene, which was not accessible by any roadways or trails, was difficult to reach due to steep inclines and the year round snow pack,” states Sgt. Grant Simpson, Clearwater RCMP Detachment Commander.

by Tiffany Goodwein