Photo: RCMP

Duke the police dog led a successful mission Wednesday in the hunt for a missing man.

A 25-year-old hospital patient was visiting the Othello Tunnels near Hope, when he went missing about 12:30 p.m.

Police were called in to find the man, and they began scouring the area near the Coquihalla River.

“The area is steep mountain terrain sloping down to the Coquihalla River,” Cpl. Darryl Peppler of the Hope RCMP said in a statement. “The river is swollen and torrent with the heavy rainfall over the past week.”

Duke led the RCMP on a two-kilometre search for more than an hour, until they found the man hiding in a cave near the river.

“The situation could have had a much grimmer ending if not for Duke,"  said media relations officer Cpl. Mike Rail. "The Integrated Police Dog Section provides support to every facet of police work, and often the officers and their partners like Duke are faced with dangerous and demanding tasks during the course of a shift."

RCMP officers took the man into custody and returned him to the hospital.