Call for Help Origin Remains a Mystery

May 31 2026 Cherryville, B.C. - The origin of a mysterious radio distress call in the Monashee Mountains east of Cherryville remains unknown, despite an extensive search effort by police and search and rescue teams.

X shows the approximate location of 6 km mark on Currie Creek Forest Service Road

On Thursday, May 28, around 6:30 p.m., a worker at the 6 km mark on Currie Creek Forest Service Road heard a female voice on radio channel RR30 say: “My name is Amanda, call 911,” followed by what sounded like “Cherry” or “Currie Creek.”

No further transmissions were heard

Vernon North Okanagan RCMP immediately began investigating the origin and validity of the call. Vernon Search and Rescue (VSAR), assisted by Shuswap SAR, Kamloops SAR, and PEP Air, responded and conducted extensive ground and aerial searches in the area throughout Thursday night and all day Friday, May 29.

RR30 is one of British Columbia’s Resource Road radio channels, primarily used by logging companies, forestry workers, mining crews, and government road maintenance teams on remote Forest Service Roads. Its use is also strongly encouraged for recreational users such as hunters, ATV riders, and backcountry travellers.

A licence is required to transmit on the channel, power output is limited (typically 30 watts for mobile units), and effective range in this steep, heavily forested terrain is generally 3 to 15 km depending on location, elevation, and line-of-sight.

Given the point where the call was received, authorities searched a potentially large area, tens of square kilometres, of challenging backcountry.

Lighter map area shows average max range of typical radio transmission

As of May 31, the source of the transmission has not been confirmed, and the case remains a mystery

Constable Chris Terleski of the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP appealed to the public: “We’re sharing this with the broader public to see if anyone knows anything that could help us. If there is someone that’s overdue, or missing, or a situation that happened that was resolved, we need to know about it.”

Anyone with information about a person named Amanda who may have been in the area, or any details related to the call, is asked to contact Vernon North Okanagan RCMP at 250-545-7117.

Call for Help Origin Remains a Mystery