Hope buoys wife of missing Mountie

The wife of a missingRCMP officerin Haiti is anxiously awaiting news as the search forthe manand another Mountie continues in the earthquake-ravaged country.

Sgt. Mark Gallagher, last based in Halifax, and RCMP Supt. Douglas Coates have been missing since the 7.0-magnitude quake struck Tuesday night.

Lisa Gallagher says it has been a difficult couple of days. But she's not giving up on her husband.

"Physically he's strong and psychologically he's very strong, and I'm just hoping that if he's stuck in that rubble somewhere, he has the strength to hang on until they can get to him," she said Thursday from her home in New Brunswick, where Gallagher is expected to start work in April.

In July, Gallagher, 50, left his position as spokesman forNova ScotiaRCMP inHalifax to join a United Nations peacekeeping mission. He trained and mentored members of that country's police force as part of Project Co-ordination, based in Port-au-Prince.

He was just returning to Haiti when the earthquake hit.

Lisa Gallagher says she spoke to her husband only 30 minutes before. He planned to take a nap.

"He told me that he was really tired after the flight and he made an executive decision not to go to the office," she said. "I'm thinking now that he was probably the only one in the apartment."

Gallagher shared an apartment with several peacekeepers, who are all accounted for in Haiti.

RCMP Supt. Douglas Coates, based in Ottawa, is the other officer missing. He often lectured at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley.

In a statement issued Thursday, RCMP commissioner William Elliott said the situation in Haiti remains "chaotic," but efforts are still underway to find Gallagher and Coates.

"The Canadian contingent commander is liaising with Canadian Forces and the United Nations on the searches. We are doing everything we can to find our missing members under these exceptional circumstances and are also waiting for additional resources to assist us in our work," said Elliott.

Gallagher, who is bilingual, has been a police officer for 25 years 12 of those years with the Mounties. His colleagues in the Maritimes call him an inspiration who cares about his community.