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What happened to Carl Couture remains a mystery.

Search and rescue volunteers made another effort Sunday to find the missing 24-year-old Sunday, but again returned home empty.

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“No signs of Couture,” North Shore Rescue’s Mike Danks said.

Couture, who had recently moved to Vancouver from Quebec and was living in the West End,was last seen Oct. 31. A search for him began a few days later after he didn’t show up for work. Surveillance from Grouse Mountain showed that Couture may have headed out on the Hanes Valley trail and was apparently alone

He was poorly dressed for a long stint outdoors and was said to be an inexperienced hiker. The Hanes Valley trails is considered quite difficult: a 16-kilometre loop hike that first heads north from Grouse Mountain, heads east towards Lynn Creek and then south to the Lynn Headwaters parking lot. Part of the trail north of Grouse includes a rugged section down a steep boulder field.

The trail has an elevation change of 1,320 metres.

After several days of searching in early November proved fruitless and with winter mountain weather setting in, the search was suspended.

A tip this past week from a member of the public about a notable smell near Norvan Falls — which is towards the northern end of Lynn Creek — North Shore Rescue conducted a search. According to CBC, they did note a smell but were unable to find the source.

With sunshine finally returning Sunday, searchers made a final effort for 2017 in hopes of turning up some sign of Couture. Starting from Norvan Falls and moving south, they focused on the west side of Lynn Creek and the Hanes Valley trail on the east side of the creek.

A helicopter from Talon Helicopters also assisted in the search.