The family of a Melbourne hiker missing in the Canadian wilderness say they are living their "worst nightmare" but are clinging to hope she will be found alive despite the discovery of her boyfriend's body in a lake.
Sophie Dowsley, 34, went hiking with 44-year-old Canadian Gregory Tiffin in the Mt Statlu Lake region on July 8. Concerned family and friends alerted authorities four days later.
Canadian search and rescue teams on Thursday found Mr Tiffin's body in Statlu Lake, three hours east of Vancouver.
Grave fears are held for Ms Dowsley but her family say they are holding onto "every bit of hope" she hasn't followed her partner over the waterfall into the lake.
"It's hard to comprehend that she has fallen down there, given that there's no evidence," her brother Jamie Dowsley told the Nine Network after returning to Melbourne from Vancouver.
"They found Greg's backpack further downstream on the same day that they found the car, which is a Wednesday.
"But the only evidence of Sophie is a pair of sunglasses carefully placed on a rock at the top."
Statlu Lake is about three hours drive east of Vancouver and renowned for its beauty.
But the wilderness is remote and the trail challenging for experienced hikers.
The waterfall has a history of deadly incidents.
Some of the searchers, which included divers, dogs and specialists from Kent Harrison Search and Rescue, had to be flown in on helicopters because of the terrain.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman Corporal Mike Rail said the territory was "gorgeous, but not forgiving".
"We'll keep searching until either we find her or we have searched everything we can possibly search," he told AAP.
"You never give up hope."
The discovery of Mr Tiffin's body will hopefully encourage search efforts to be stepped up and there could be a greater role for the Australian government, Mr Dowsley said.
"Hopefully it can increase the urgency of the search. We are 12 days in and we are desperate," he told 3AW radio.
"We feel we need the help of our government. We don't know what that help looks like."
He said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade "basically told us there is nothing they can do".
Ms Dowsley had been living in Canada for about three years and her family flew there as soon as they realised she was missing.
"It's the worst possible nightmare that you could imagine," Ms Dowsley's father, Peter, told Canada's CTV News.
"I couldn't dream of anything worse."
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