Ontario
Provincial Police started to search for the missing plane in northern regions
of Timmins and Cochrane, northwestern Quebec and around James Bay (Peacock,
2001), covering around 843,443 square kilometers (“Storm Halts”, 2001). It was
one of the largest search and rescue mission at the time (Peacock, 2001),
containing Royal Air Force Planes, around 270 personnel and it lasted for a
month (Pagan, 2011). There were many reports of seeing the yellow plane in the
air in different areas, but when further investigated the men were not found
(Peacock, 2001). Coach Conn Smythe advertised a $10,000 reward for the men dead
or alive and Bill’s brother Alex and a few teammates tried to raise money for a
ground search (“Storm Halts”, 2001).
It was not
until 11 years later on June 6th (“Storm
Halts”, 2001), 1962 that a helicopter pilot by the name of Ron Boyd spotted a
plane about 45 miles away from Cochrane, deep in the forest (“www.barilko.ca”,
n.d.). When the plane was reached it was reported to be twisted, half-buried,
and camouflaged into the woods with two skeletons in the cockpit (“Storm
Halts”, 2001). The skeletons were not eligible for identification through
dental records, but personal items were left on the scene giving the
investigators enough information to report that it was Bill Barilko and Henry
Hudson (2001). However, the case stayed as an open-shut case (2001).