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BC  

'An absolute nightmare'

Tonya Kilmer refuses to give up hope.

Her husband, Ben, went missing in rural Duncan nearly a week ago, but she's adamant he'll be found alive.

Kilmer, 41, was reported missing last Wednesday after his van, still running, was found parked on the side of Cowichan Lake Road.

Surveillance footage from the morning he disappeared shows him at a job. His electrician work vehicle was discovered later that day at the roadside.

Blood was discovered inside the work van, and a search team later found blood on a nearby trail.

"It's a complete nightmare, an absolute nightmare," said Tonya.

Some 40 search and rescue members and more than 100 civilian volunteers launched a search, but found no sign of the missing husband and father.

"We haven't had anything at all," said Tina Phillips of Cowichan Search and Rescue. "Any signs or clues that we've had, we've followed up on those and they haven't led to anything."

While the official search has been suspended, Tonya and a group of family and volunteers are continuing their own search efforts/.

Police are calling it a missing persons investigation and have stopped short of deeming the disappearance criminal in nature.

Officials are asking residents to check their property for any sign of Kilmer or anything out of the ordinary.

Police are treating as a missing person case and have yet to deem it suspicious.

Anyone with information on the case are asked to call their local RCMP.

- with files from CTV Vancouver Island



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