EDMONTON — Mounties and searchers are calling it the “best possible outcome” in the case of a man who was reported missing on the weekend.
Donald Bilawchuck, who is 56, has been found safe and sound, after two days spent in the bush near Drayton Valley, southwest of Edmonton.
Bilawchuck, who needs crutches to get around, had last been seen Saturday afternoon, and his truck was found Sunday near Powerhouse Road.
Police say about 9 a.m. this morning, he waved down a search party on ATVs in that same area.
Bilawchuck was alert and speaking with searchers when he was found, and was taken by ambulance to a Drayton Valley hospital for examination and treatment of exposure.
RCMP Staff Sergeant Brian Jones says Mounties still don’t know exactly how he was separated from his ATV.
“He had managed to crawl, or make his way some distance back toward Powerhouse Road,” Jones says. “There was a small creek that stopped him from actually being able to get up to the road.”
“It was a very stressful, and strenuous, and very, very difficult two nights he spent in the bush.”