Search-and-rescue teams hunt for missing Okanagan senior

Lawrence Hamilton, 72, was last seen visiting a seniors care home in West Kelowna last Sunday.

Lawrence Hamilton is known as an avid hiker known to walk long distances

Lawrence Hamilton, 72, was last seen on Sunday leaving a seniors care home in West Kelowna. (West Kelowna RCMP)

Police and search-and-rescue organizations in the Okanagan are looking for a missing senior who disappeared five days ago. 

Lawrence Hamilton, 72, was last seen visiting a seniors care home in West Kelowna, B.C., last Sunday. 

Hamilton left the facility on Butt Road at about 3 p.m. PT that day. He didn't return home, and his family reported him missing two days later.

The RCMP and at least three search-and-rescue groups are now looking for him on the ground and from the air.

"The family is definitely concerned," said Trevor Honigman, a search director with Vernon Search and Rescue.

Police say Hamilton is an avid hiker known to walk long distances. They say he suffers from a medical condition that requires him to regularly take medication.

Officers are asking anyone with information about Hamilton's whereabouts to contact local police.

Hamilton is described as a white man, about six feet tall, with grey hair dyed brown and hazel eyes.

He was last seen wearing a dark blue puffy jacket, jeans, a scarf and a pair of gloves.

With files from Brady Strachan