Pictured: Mara, Randy Macleod, Ranger, and Mike Ritcey (Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

SEARCH, RECOVERY AND DETECTION K9S OF BC

Into Thin Air — SRD K9s of BC | Volunteer search dog teams maintain missing person ground search efforts

Sep 5, 2025 | 4:11 PM

KAMLOOPS — When missing persons cases become longer-term searches, the number of people who regularly get out and look in areas of interest throughout the backcountry decreases dramatically. That’s where the Search, Recovery, and Detection K9’s of BC come in.

“When the search is called off, the family has nobody to rely on to go look for them. And there’s so many people — there’s like 12,000 people a year that go missing in B.C. Forty per cent of the people who go missing, go missing in B.C., from across Canada. And most of those are found in a short time but there are lots who aren’t,” explains Mike Ritcey, the current president of the SRD K9s of BC.

The non-profit is made up of volunteers, often coming from backgrounds in search and rescue, emergency response or other fields. Such was the case for Ritcey and Randy Macleod. The pair were among founding members of the group, alongside their dogs, Ranger and Mara, who are specially trained in detection.

“This isn’t just a thing where you train a couple of hours a day. This is absolutely a way of life. That’s what really got me into it,” notes Macleod.

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Hundreds of hours are put into different search operations every year and teams travel around the province as often as they can afford to help sniff out answers.

“You’re never just going for a walk for the sake of [needing] to take the dog for a walk. There’s always something in the back of your mind, an ulterior motive,” explains Macleod. “We’re either out, every search we’re training, or every time we’re training we’re searching.”

“I mean these are good people who don’t deserve to have their child out somewhere that nobody is looking for,” reiterates Ritcey. “I mean, you’d think somebody would have the decency just to tell somebody where it is or where the person is so they can move on. Just one of those things.”

There’s a general draw of interest to the organization with the science behind canine detection abilities. Several of the dogs are certified to detect human remains, narcotics, explosives and more. Any applicants, though, need to consider the sobering reality of what this work entails.

“Every time you go out, you’re not going to find somebody who is missing. And as long as you’re okay with that, then keep on looking,” says Macleod. “As Mike says, there’s no such thing as a wrong place to look.”

“You’re looking for human remains. And that’s what we’re training the dogs on, is human remains,” stresses Ritcey. “I think it’s a worthwhile project. It brings hope to people and since we’ve started, we have found human remains and it’s a good thing.”

When anything of interest is located, police are immediately called. Those moments come with heavy emotion.

“You certainly wouldn’t describe it as elating,” Macleod describes. “Of course, when you find human remains you’re in all likelihood not identifying exactly who it is so the RCMP are the first point of contact immediately. And hopefully we hear back from them. We know that just being out there is contributing to at least giving some families some hope. There’s so many missing people that after weeks, months, years, nobody is looking anymore and [families] don’t know where to turn.”

The SRD K9’s of BC found a permanent home in Kamloops in 2023 when the Cooper Family Foundation donated space for a new training and operations centre. Time spent on training and searching is volunteered, and any other expenses are covered by donations.

“We have a fund that we use strictly for searching and that goes for fuel. We can go out from there,” notes Ritcey. “The Kamloops [4×4 Club], they’ve been good to us. They have different organized events and the money goes to us to search for Shannon White or anybody else who needs to be searched for.”

The organization’s purpose is simple — ultimately, teams want to find people who are missing and give families an answer. But if nothing else, those wondering what happened to their friend or family member can at least know that someone is looking for them.

“There’s a lot of people really who are on the edge of giving up hope. That’s what we’re striving to do is just to try and at least let them know somebody (else) wants an answer,” Macleod states. “Somebody is thinking about it.”

“You know what it means to the family. It doesn’t bring closure, it just answers some questions, so it’s kind of tough that way, but we feel we’re doing the right thing,” adds Ritcey.

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To anonymously report a crime or submit a tip, Kamloops, Crime Stoppers can be reached at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the BC Crime Stoppers website.