Canadian couple James Evans and Easha Rayel were missing for weeks. But they actually died in a car crash close to their home
- Police had widened their search area for James Evans, 23, and Easha Rayel, 36, until discovery of car hidden in ditch on highway
For two long, devastating weeks, the families of a missing Canadian couple clung to every lead, desperately hoping that the smallest shred of evidence could help explain the sudden disappearance of their loved ones.
James Evans, 23, and Easha Rayel, 36 were last seen travelling together near their home on Vancouver Island on Canada’s west coast.
But on Sunday, after weeks of anxious waiting and a series of cold tips, family were told that Evans and Rayel had never left the island.
Instead, the couple had perished in a car accident along a busy highway, and their vehicle was obscured from view beneath thick overgrowth.
A resident, out dog-walking, spotted the couple’s car in a ditch alongside the Pat Bay highway on 24 August, police said.
“People see the ditch, but they often don’t realise how steep it is,” said constable Meighan de Pass, a spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.