The body of an Abbotsford man who was last seen in Hope on Aug. 24 has been found.
Tim Rutherford, 46, was found by search and rescue teams on Sunday evening, confirms friend Angie Korkowski.
She said it appears that Rutherford hit a soft shoulder while driving his Ford Explorer SUV in an off-road area, and the vehicle rolled about 200 feet. An autopsy is being conducted to confirm the exact cause of death.
Rutherford had been camping in the Jones Lake area of Hope since mid-August and was last seen by a camp ranger at about 1 p.m. on Aug. 24, when he was parked at the Jones Lake pull-out near the Highway 1 exit 153.
Rutherford had been working with Abbotsford’s Joshua House recovery ministry, for which Korkowski is executive director, when he quit his job on July 28.
Korkowski said Rutherford indicated he was going to go camping, and he spent the first half of August at Rolley Lake in Mission before moving to the Jones Lake area.
He was keeping in touch with friends every couple of days, but they grew worried when they didn’t hear from him after Aug. 21 and could not reach him on his cellphone.
Korkowski, her husband, and a friend went searching for Rutherford on Friday, Aug. 29 and reported him missing to Hope RCMP when they found his campsite but no sign of him or his vehicle.
Hope RCMP issued a news release on Sept. 2 about Rutherford’s disappearance.
Korkowski said a search and rescue team was called in by RCMP on Sunday, Sept. 7, and he was found late that evening.
She said he will be deeply missed by the recovery community, who has lost a “wonderful man.”
“Tim touched so many lives, helped so many people with their recovery. He was passionate and kind. He was like a brother to me in my darkest days … I’m just glad we brought him home,” Korkowski said.
Rutherford is listed on the Joshua House website as a house facilitator.
His biography indicates that he turned to alcohol and drugs at an early age to escape an abusive past, but he had been clean and sober since 2006.
“Joshua House has allowed me to use my God given gifts here. I’ve never felt so at peace and content as I do now,” he stated in the write-up.
Details on Rutherford’s memorial service have not yet been finalized.