Swimmer presumed drowned in Okanagan Lake; recovery mission underway

Efforts are now underway to retrieve the body of a swimmer presumed drowned in Okanagan Lake.

West Kelowna RCMP responded Aug. 16 at 6:20 p.m., to a call of a man who had not resurfaced while swimming near Tug Boat Beach on Okanagan Lake, Cpl. Jocelyn Noseworthy said in a press release, today, Aug. 17.

People in the area had attempted to locate the 29-year-old Kelowna man but had not been able to find him, according to the release.

West Kelowna RCMP, Kelowna Fire and Rescue and members of the Central Okanagan Search and Rescue were on scene yesterday. Despite extensive efforts, they were unable to locate the man, and he is presumed to have drowned, Cpl. Noseworthy said in a press release.

Today, the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team and COSAR are at the location attempting to locate the man's body.

“For the safety of our divers and the entire search team, we request that boaters remain away from the area while we complete our search," Cpl. Noseworthy said in the release. “At this time, we are unable to estimate how long this operation will be on-going."

Police say several boaters and others have offered their help with both the search in the water as well as a search for an overdue hiker. While it's appreciated, they should not interfere with search efforts, particularly with the use of drones because there is an active air search in the area. 

"(We) appreciate our communities desire to assist persons in distress, but these high risk and coordinated searches are fully resourced and do not require additional resources," Noseworthy said. 

At this time, investigators do not believe criminality was not involved in this incident. The B.C. Coroners Service has also been notified.

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