PENTICTON, B.C. — A search for a motorcyclist who vanished on a ride from Northern Alberta to the Okanagan community of Keremeos, B.C., ended under almost surreal circumstances along an isolated stretch of Highway 5, south of Prince George.
Dennis Gordon Gudmondson’s motorbike and body were discovered Saturday down a brush-covered embankment, about 55 kilometres south of Valemount.
A search for the 61-year-old Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., man began after he failed to show up at his fiancee’s home in Keremeos on July 8, but after days of looking and only one lead from debit card payments earlier that day in Prince George and McBride, there was concern the trail had gone cold.
Until fate, and a group of Gudmondson’s friends and family, intervened.
“Call it serendipity, call it higher power,” RCMP Const. Lesley Smith said Monday.
She said family members from Alberta had arranged to meet with some of Gudmondson’s friends from Keremeos somewhere along Highway 5.
Spotting each other’s oncoming vehicles, they pulled over to exchange hugs and condolences.
“They just happened to meet right there. One vehicle was going north and one vehicle was going south,” said Smith.
Someone wandered to the side of the highway and looked down the embankment and, incredibly, spotted the undercarriage of the overturned motorcycle in the bushes. Upon looking further, they discovered Gudmondson’s body nearby.
Smith said no debris or skid marks indicated an accident scene and RCMP had already conducted a thorough search of that section of the highway, including an aerial survey.