CANADA Canada - Ben Tyner, 32, cowboy, horse returned w/o him, Merritt, British Columbia, 26 Jan 2019 - #2

[Trudie]

If anyone’s interested in the weather in January during the last week in January, here’s a link.

Weather in January 2019 in Merritt, British Columbia, Canada

I notice Sunday, Jan 27th was unseasonably warm at 11C (or 52F). While the temp would be colder at higher elevations, considering the mild temperature for prior weeks there probably wasn’t a lot of snow cover yet at that time, making tracking even more difficult.

A few pages back I posted the historical data for Merritt weather from the time of Bens disappearance.

 

[Trudie]

@otto I’m reposting this link for you, since you were away from the thread for a few weeks.

NR certainly has faced many obstacles.

Bradner R Farms assumes haying operation at Nicola Ranch - Merritt Herald
The ranch had been searching for a business to lease the farm ever since announcing it would cease production of its own hay — a result of its current cashflow situation, and the fact the cost to produce the hay was more than the cost to buy it, Williams told the Herald.

“We made a cashflow decision in support of our cow herd,” said Williams.

 

[MistyWaters]

A few pages back I posted the historical data for Merritt weather from the time of Bens disappearance.

Yes, thank you. Until now, I hadn’t paid particularly close attention to the weather on the Sunday.

 

[Trudie]

Yes we know Ben wasn’t found anywhere near where the horse was located. There appears to be no reason whatsoever for him to have ridden his horse up a logging road. But that the hoof prints weren’t or couldn’t be tracked isn’t proof the horse was stationary the entire time. Where the horse was found is described a logging road off of Hwy 97c near Winnie Flats iirc, not Swakum Ridge, so I think it’s a safe assumption by the description that it’s two separate areas. Could the horse have travelled riderless from Swakum Ridge to where she was found within a day or so, I have no idea.

My opinion, it’d be a huge leap in logic to assume the horse remained in the exact same location on the logging road - regardless of the theory, whether she was intentionally staged and delivered by a truck and trailer or whether she became riderless at a location where Ben was ambushed. JMO

Lol. Yes, I realize Ben was not found . I posted the link again since a few of us had discussed the lack of tracks.

 

[otto]

If anyone’s interested in the weather in January during the last week in January, here’s a link.

Weather in January 2019 in Merritt, British Columbia, Canada

I notice Sunday, Jan 27th was unseasonably warm at 11C (or 52F). While the temp would be colder at higher elevations, considering the mild temperature for prior weeks there probably wasn’t a lot of snow cover yet at that time, making tracking even more difficult.

It looks like there's enough snow to track a horse and a man.



Searchers narrow time frame of Merritt cowboy's disappearance

 

[Trudie]

It looks like there's enough snow to track a horse and a man.

View attachment 179582

Searchers narrow time frame of Merritt cowboy's disappearance

Definitely enough to see tracks, imo.
I’m sure SAR could see their own.

I was really glad Jack was able to join the search. His input was valuable, I think.
Growing up on horseback with his big brother, I think he could offer insight as to where Ben would not attempt to travel on horseback. Especially alone, w/o notifying anyone & leaving his phone at home.
Moo

 

[zecats]

First observations from KR who found and caught hold of Gunny.

Volunteers to continue search for missing cowboy in B.C. over the weekend

Robinson says the gelding was "a little bit jumpy" and one of its reins was broken.

"The horse was dressed up nice. It had a good saddle and stuff on it. It was somebody who was riding it who knew about horses and knew about riding."

 

[zecats]

Another Saturday night reference.

Family of missing cowboy coming from Wyoming to aid in search

Robinson called a few local cowboys at that time to notify them.

“When they called me back at 12:30 p.m. — this really pissed me off — they told me that it was the manager of the Nicola Ranch’s horse, who had been missing since Saturday night. I don’t know why nobody knew.”

 

[Trudie]

@otto I’m reposting this link for you, since you were away from the thread for a few weeks.

NR certainly has faced many obstacles.

Bradner R Farms assumes haying operation at Nicola Ranch - Merritt Herald
The ranch had been searching for a business to lease the farm ever since announcing it would cease production of its own hay — a result of its current cashflow situation, and the fact the cost to produce the hay was more than the cost to buy it, Williams told the Herald.

“We made a cashflow decision in support of our cow herd,” said Williams.

Quoting my post (sorry)

What the heck happened at NR for it to struggle so?
Do they even have equipment capable of doing their own hay? Did they find it necessary to liquidate equipment?
Bradner uses their own equipment, per article.

Was Ben hired specifically to bring NR out of the red?

 

[zecats]

Quoting my post (sorry)

What the heck happened at NR for it to struggle so?
Do they even have equipment capable of doing their own hay? Did they find it necessary to liquidate equipment?
Bradner uses their own equipment, per article.

Was Ben hired specifically to bring NR out of the red?

And did they recently take on logging? Or was that always a part of their production? Would Ben have been helpful with that?

 

[Trudie]

Another Saturday night reference.

Family of missing cowboy coming from Wyoming to aid in search

Robinson called a few local cowboys at that time to notify them.

“When they called me back at 12:30 p.m. — this really pissed me off — they told me that it was the manager of the Nicola Ranch’s horse, who had been missing since Saturday night. I don’t know why nobody knew.”

Yes, who did KR speak with shortly after noon on Monday that already knew Ben went missing Saturday night?

 

[Trudie]

And did they recently take on logging? Or was that always a part of their production? Would Ben have been helpful with that?

I’m sure overseeing the logging operations would be part of Ben’s job as GM.
Perhaps logging was hopefully a way to get NR out of the red?
I can’t find herd size for NR. We did get a glimpse of a few cows near the search area last week. I didn’t see many.
I’ll check the stockyard, maybe they had a dispersal sale.

 

[MistyWaters]

Yes, who did KR speak with shortly after noon on Monday that already knew Ben went missing Saturday night?

I noticed that too. The media reported LE knew the Sat night whereabouts of Ben on Jan 30th, the report of KRs interview appeared the day after on Jan 31st so he could’ve just learned it through reading the latest news. Otherwise I’m certain Ben’s disappearance was the #1 talk amongst locals and almost always do they manage to have eyes and ears everywhere.

 

[MistyWaters]

And did they recently take on logging? Or was that always a part of their production? Would Ben have been helpful with that?

Typically a logging company negotiates a contract with a landowner and included in that contract is managing their operations, complying with forestry regulations, site cleanup etc. Forestry is a large sector of BCs economy and considering there’s a sawmill up the 97c highway it wouldn’t be unusual if the large ranches were a regular supplier of timber.

 

[Trudie]

And did they recently take on logging? Or was that always a part of their production? Would Ben have been helpful with that?

I started working on a timeline so we could have a timeline thread. However, after compiling my notes, I quickly gave up. There too few articles & the conflicting info makes it all but impossible to organize.

 

[MistyWaters]

It looks like there's enough snow to track a horse and a man.

View attachment 179582

Searchers narrow time frame of Merritt cowboy's disappearance

Jan 30th, is that old snow or fresh snow? I have no answer why the hoofprints of the horse couldn’t be tracked other than reasons stated. However tracks on a logging road, snow or not, would quickly become obliterated if logging trucks were active.

 

[zecats]

I noticed that too. The media reported LE knew the Sat night whereabouts of Ben on Jan 30th, the report of KRs interview appeared the day after on Jan 31st so he could’ve just learned it through reading the latest news. Otherwise I’m certain Ben’s disappearance was the #1 talk amongst locals and almost always do they manage to have eyes and ears everywhere.

But he’s not quoting anyone else. He’s being quoted. “They called me back and they told me...”. His own words about speaking directly with some cowboys. And this phone conversation took place on Monday shortly after horse was found and id’ed.

 

[Trudie]

But he’s not quoting anyone else. He’s being quoted. “They called me back and they told me...”. His own words about speaking directly with some cowboys. And this phone conversation took place on Monday shortly after horse was found and id’ed.

You’re correct.
He seems to be well known in the area & he implies he had plural calls, “they called....”.

 

[Jim_M]

You’re correct.
He seems to be well known in the area & he implies he had plural calls, “they called....”.

Now I'm confused. <Yeah, doesn't take much> I thought finding the horse was what prompted the missing notification. But, if the people calling KR back 'knew' that Ben was already missing from Saturday night, when was LE actually informed about a missing Ben? It appears it was before Gunny was found, right? Or did I miss this in my following the storyline? Yep, it doesn't take much

 

[enelram]

Now I'm confused. <Yeah, doesn't take much> I thought finding the horse was what prompted the missing notification. But, if the people calling KR back 'knew' that Ben was already missing from Saturday night, when was LE actually informed about a missing Ben? It appears it was before Gunny was found, right? Or did I miss this in my following the storyline? Yep, it doesn't take much

Yes, Jim_M there's some gray area of when LE knew. I'm with
you in that everything I've seen says finding Gunny was what
confirmed Ben was missing. Remember we ALL had questions
early on in first thread about why no one at ranch was looking
for Ben or missed Ben. Did those who worked closest with
him ALREADY know something had happened over the weekend
so there was no need for them to sound an alert?
Per news articles RCMP did not come onto the scene until
sometime on TUESDAY. We don't know exactly when they were notified.