For the second time this winter, Whistler RCMP has issued a public alert about a missing resident.

David Christian, a 27-year-old Whistler Blackcomb employee and seasonal resident, has been missing since Saturday (March 17) when he was last seen celebrating St. Patrick's Day at Merlins Bar and Grill.

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"He's not returned home since," said Staff Sgt. Steve LeClair. "It's very out of character for this person."

Friends alerted police on Monday night (March 19) that Christian had not shown up at work and his room in staff housing appeared to be untouched. While officers were conducting interviews on Tuesday (March 20), friends said the Irish national was last seen at Merlins on Saturday at about 11 p.m.

LeClair said Christian last used his cell phone later that night (at about 2:30 a.m.) to send a text message. There has been no activity on his phone since.

Because Christian lived in staff housing, RCMP sent an avalanche dog team to search the ski area between Merlins and staff housing on Tuesday. A police dog team also conducted a search in the area, LeClair added.

Christian is described as standing 6'3" tall and weighing 210 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black toque, a green plaid shirt over a green T-shirt, jeans, blue Vans skate shoes and a white and blue Orage jacket.

Anyone with information about Christian's whereabouts is asked to contact the Whistler RCMP at 604-932-3044.

The search for Christian follows a two-month search for local DJ Mike Grefner, who went missing after a DJ shift in mid-January. Grefner was confirmed dead last week after his body was found in the woods near Whistler Secondary School.

Vandals trash summer cabins

Vandals recently trashed two vacation properties on Pemberton Portage Road in Birken, smashing windows, spray painting walls, destroying furniture and appliances and more. An estimated $30,000 in damage was done, LeClair said.

Several buildings on each of the properties were "severely vandalized," with every window and mirror smashed, including a stained glass window and skylight, he added. Nothing was stolen and police have not identified a motive.

"We have no indication of why this happened," LeClair said.

The vandalism was reported to RCMP last Wednesday (March 14), but the damage could have occurred anytime in the previous two weeks, as nobody had been to the summer cabins during that time.

Police seized several items for fingerprinting purposes, and what is believed to be drops of blood were seized for DNA analysis. Anyone with information is asked to contact Whistler RCMP at 604-932-3044.

Snowmobilers found safe

A group of three missing snowmobilers were found safe and uninjured by search and rescue on Tuesday after spending an unplanned night in the backcountry. The three men went snowmobiling in the Rutherford Creek area on Monday and were reported overdue to police on Tuesday at about 1:25 p.m.

High winds prevented search and rescue from attending via helicopter, but searchers set out on snowmobiles, LeClair said. The men were located Tuesday afternoon. One of their sleds had gotten stuck the previous day, delaying their return.

Search and rescue was also dispatched to find two lost skiers in the Khyber area on Whistler Mountain on Sunday (March 18). The experienced skiers, one age 19 from Bellingham, Wash. and the other a 55-year-old Whistlerite, had gotten lost out of bounds.

Ski patrollers were able to reach the men by cell phone and give them directions to walk out to the Cheakamus Lake Forest Service Road, LeClair said. Search and rescue personnel went in on snowmobiles and met the men at about 10:15 p.m.

Man arrested twice in three days

A 48-year-old Mount Currie man who is regularly arrested in Whistler for breaching his probation and intoxication-related offences was picked up by police on Sunday and again on Tuesday after causing disturbances in the Village.

Staff at a Village hotel called police on Sunday at about 7 a.m. after complaints from guests about a man singing "at the top of his lungs" in Village Square, LeClair said. Police attended and arrested the man, who was intoxicated and under probation conditions not to be found in Whistler.

He was in court on breach charges on Monday morning, but was arrested again on Tuesday for throwing snowballs at passersby in Village Square. LeClair said his condition not to be found in Whistler was removed, so he was ticketed for public intoxication and released later on Tuesday.

Women call 911 for animal sounds

Whistler RCMP received a 911 call on Monday night from a woman who said she and a friend were inside a snow cave on Whistler Mountain and afraid for her safety because of animal noises outside the cave.

The women, age 19 and 23 from Quebec, said they built the snow cave with the intention to spend the night in the Khyber area, LeClair said. But they became afraid after hearing the animal outside.

Relaying advice from the conservation officer service, RCMP advised the women to make noise to scare the animal away, LeClair said. The women skied out to Creekside when the noises stopped.