PORT ANGELES — The whereabouts of former Canadian Olympic rowing athlete missing for five days remained a mystery Sunday, according to authorities.
Harold Backer, 52, was last seen Nov. 3, boarding the MV Coho ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles. Authorities are “85 percent certain” that a bicyclist videotaped as he left the ferry was Backer, Port Angeles Police Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith has said.
No one has seen Backer since then, according to U.S. and Canadian authorities.
Backer is 6 feet, 3 inches tall, weighs 200-220 pounds and has short graying hair and green eyes.
He was wearing a red cycling shirt and black cycling pants, and was possibly carrying a black backpack. He would be riding a black Cannondale road bike.
Anyone who sees Backer is asked to call 9-1-1.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Victoria police, the lead agency in the search, at 250-995-7654.
Victoria Police officials have said Backer did not tell his family he was planning to travel to Port Angeles, and there was neither an indication of foul play nor any hint of why he might have disappeared voluntarily.
Backer’s wife, Elizabeth Hardy, said in a Facebook posting that he did not have a cell phone or other communications device with him during the trip.
“All of this was out of the ordinary for him,” Victoria Police Department spokesman Bowen Osoko said Sunday.
On Sunday, the State Patrol, which is heading the search on the U.S. side of the border, had no leads, according to State Patrol spokesman Trooper Russ Winger.
Hardy said in a Facebook post she thought he would have intended to ride to Hurricane Ridge but believed the road to be closed.
Hurricane Ridge Road reopened the morning of Nov. 3 after being closed for a mountain snowstorm, but it was unclear if he was aware of the road’s updated status.
If he was unable to ride to Hurricane Ridge, she said she thought he would take either the U.S. Highway 101 route or the Olympic Discovery Trail.
Efforts to reach Hardy Sunday were unsuccessful.
Backer was a three-time Olympic rower for Canada’s national team.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
