From My Side of the Bar: Body of missing 86-year-old Regina man found

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Body of missing 86-year-old Regina man found


		Donald James Barnett Photograph by: RCMP , handout

REGINA — Regina resident Donald Barnett,missing since last Thursday, has been found dead.
According to an RCMP, Barnett’s body was found at 11 a.m. on Tuesday with the assistance of a STARS Air Ambulance helicopter crew. Police said he was found several kilometres south of the Wascana Trails area that had been previously searched by RCMP members and volunteers.

The Coroner’s Office is now investigating.
Barnett, 86, was first reported missing on Thursday when he left that morning to go walking in the Wascana Trails — an area with which he was reportedly quite familiar.

Ground and aerial searches had failed to locate the man. On Monday, volunteers on horseback combed the area again.
Then on Tuesday morning, RCMP asked STARS to assist in the search, although it’s outside of the air service’s normal duties.
Because the STARS helicopter was not on a patient mission at the time, they were able to take part, explained spokesperson Kelly Brossart. A full crew of two pilots, a paramedic and a nurse took flight at 10:53 a.m. and were dispatched to Wascana Trails.
Not long after arriving in the area, one of the pilots noticed Barnett’s body.

“Our pilots are trained in search and rescue ... most of them have military background and as I said, although this is not part of our primary mandate, it is great that we were able to help them out with this particular mission,” STARS spokesperson Kelly Brossart said.

Asked by reporters if STARS should have been brought in sooner, RCMP spokesman Sgt. Paul Dawson replied, “It’s tough to say.
“Had we brought them out, maybe they would be searching the area in Wascana Trails and they wouldn’t have found him. So, searching is kind of an inexact science. We do the best we can based on the information that we have of when this person would go there, what he would normally do there, his age — things like that. We used a lot of different tools in hopes of finding him, and eventually we did with the help of STARS. So that’s a good thing.”

bpacholik@leaderpost.com
tmarr@leaderpost.com