Missing man found safe and sound

Longtime Whitehorse resident Dave Layzell was found last Friday afternoon on the Clear Creek Road by a helicopter pilot and a colleague who were travelling from Dawson City to Mayo on mining business.

Longtime Whitehorse resident Dave Layzell was found last Friday afternoon on the Clear Creek Road by a helicopter pilot and a colleague who were travelling from Dawson City to Mayo on mining business.

“They were not part of the search effort but as they left Dawson, one of them said, ‘Hey, that guy from Whitehorse is still missing, so let’s swing by Clear Creek just to take a look,“ Jude Layzell, Dave’s wife, explained in an interview this morning.

“And they popped over the mountain and there he was, and they immediately flew to the Mayo nursing station.“

Jude said Dave was resting this morning and gathering back his strength, after going without food for 15 days, and surviving on nothing but water.

Pilot Kit Brink of Fireweed Helicopters noted in an interview from the Dawson base this morning that the flying community had been alerted to the missing man, and the possibility that Clear Creek may be the area.

So he and Brent Van Sickle, a fellow pilot getting a ride to Mayo, decided to fly the Bell 206 Jet Ranger along the creek on their way.

“I was right over Clear Creek and we were just flying along when I caught a glint off his pickup,“ Brink recalled.

He said they circled over top, confirmed it was the missing truck and landed.

Layzell was weak, as was his dog, said Brink, noting both were assisted aboard the chopper for the flight to Mayo.

It was originally believed the 67-year-old Layzell had gone missing several days later than he did, but in fact he left Whitehorse on Aug. 9.

He was reported missing on Aug. 25, after having failed to pick up his wife at the Whitehorse airport that day.

Jude said she was away but her husband had said if she called and he wasn’t home, he and the dog, Brandy, were probably out camping.

She had a gut feeling a few days prior to arriving home, but knew something was definitely wrong when Dave didn’t show up at the airport.

Layzell and his dog were travelling along the Clear Creek bush road when his four-by-four truck became stuck while attempting to reach the site of an old gold dredge. He had planned to have a look at it for the Miles Canyon Historical Society.

As a seasoned outdoorsman and former survival instructor, the director of the historical society knew enough to stay with the vehicle, Jude said.

She said he had camping gear with him and immediately began rationing the three days of food he had brought along, but eventually ran out.

After his water ran out, he began fetching it from Clear Creek and boiling it until his propane ran out four days before his rescue, when he then took to drinking water right from the creek.

But as Jude noted, Layzell said, “There is a reason they call it Clear Creek.“

She said her spouse had put out some markers to draw attention to his whereabouts, and did, on a couple of occasions, hear aircraft nearby.

Jude received word of her husband’s rescue at about 3:30 p.m. Friday.

The days of uncertainty were numbing.

“But I had so much support from family and friends,“ she said. “People were saying prayers all over, and no one every left my side, never left me alone, and that was much appreciated.“

Jude said her husband was kept overnight Friday at the Mayo nursing station and was put on an intravenous for hydration. They rested in the community Saturday and returned to Whitehorse on Sunday.

“He has lost some weight, 21 pounds,“ she said. “We are very grateful to everybody for their thoughts and prayers, the help and the concern.

“Yukoners were just fantastic.“

A search and rescue fund was created last week to help expand the RCMP search effort.

Whitehorse RCMP Sgt. Glenn Ramsey said a number of detachments were involved in the effort last week, as information came in about where Layzell may have travelled.

Even the Teslin detachment had done some checking, he said.

He noted that the flight services staff and the RCMP had circulated information to the various airplane and helicopter companies, asking that they keep an eye out during the regular course of business.

“And one pilot went 15 minutes out of his way to check the area,“ Ramsey said.