ALMA – A celebration of life will be held here for a local man who went missing on Jan. 7 while hiking in northern California.
Rick Eastep, 32, set out at the north end of the Lost Coast Trail in Humboldt County on Jan. 3 after being dropped off by shuttle service.
He was expecting to complete the hike by Jan 8.
When family members did not hear from him by Jan. 9, they made inquires. He was planning to meet his parents (Sandra and Steve Eastep) in Pennsylvania for a family event on Jan. 12.
Raised on a family chicken/cash crop farm north of Elora, Eastep attended public school in Salem and high school in Fergus.
He had been living in Waterloo and working at the University of Waterloo as a presentation technologies specialist and event coordinator.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s office began searching on Jan. 9 when Eastep was reported missing.
On Jan. 11 teams did find Eastep’s dry bag, knapsack and ready-to-eat meals, offering a glimmer of hope.
The sheriff’s office confirmed on Jan. 12 the search had been scaled back, but teams continued to patrol the area over the next few weeks.
A celebration to share stories of Eastep’s life will be held at the Alma Community Centre on March 3 at 2pm.
