The remains and personal belongings of a U.K. tourist who was reported missing two and a half years ago have finally been located.
Tom Billings was visiting Vancouver in late November of 2013 and was last seen on East Broadway near McLean Dr. on Nov 25. The 22-year-old was a seasoned traveller and avid hiker and had been spending eight weeks travelling North America.
He was reported missing a week after he was last seen when he failed to complete his travel plans. Investigators with the VPD Missing Person Unit obtained information that indicated Tom had gone to the mountains on the North Shore. Investigators believed that Billings had become lost or injured, but a large-scale search failed to find any trace of him.
On Apr. 11, 2016, a hiker on Cypress Mountain spotted what he believed to be human remains and reported this discovery to the police. North Shore Search and Rescue returned to the area and completed the recovery.
Through DNA identification, it was confirmed that the remains were Billings’. The BC Coroners Service continues to investigate this death, but foul play is not suspected. Police investigators have been in regular contact with the Billings family from the day he went missing.
The finding will now bring closure to the family as they have spent the past two and a half years wondering what happened to their son.
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