Police have suspended the six-day cape breton hiker search for Denise Ann Willams, a 62-year-old Australian who entered Cape Breton Highlands National Park in mid-April and was last heard from then. Investigators found her rental car near the head of the Acadian Trail, but the search ended this week without new information.
Cape Breton Highlands National Park
The search covered more than 360 square miles of protected wilderness, with dogs, about 100 people, aircraft and ground crews taking part. RCMP Cpl. Mandy Edwards said police had no new information after what she called “exhaustive air and ground efforts over extremely challenging terrain.”
The park’s terrain shaped the search from the start. Chris Bellemore, who leads a local search and rescue team, said crews were walking through dense forested areas, valleys and ravines, adding, “We’re in valleys. We’re in ravines. We’re walking through dense forested areas. We’re walking in areas where there’s a lot of windfalls, so it can be pretty challenging,” and “our hearts go out to her family.”
Acadian Trail
Search teams spent little time on the well-marked trails, Bellemore said, because the effort focused on the areas beyond them. The Acadian Trail is a 5-mile loop, and investigators found Willams’ rental car near its head, a point that helped direct crews toward the surrounding forest, valleys and ravines rather than the trail itself.
The case now turns on what searchers already know: Willams entered the park in mid-April, her car was found near the Acadian Trail, and six days of air and ground work produced no new information. For anyone trying to understand the next step, the immediate result is that the active search has stopped, leaving the family and investigators with a location and a timeline but no new trace of where she went after entering the park.
