Kelowna man charged with murder after body found in Okanagan Lake

Kelowna RCMP have charged a 25-year-old man with first-degree murder following the discovery of a body in Okanagan Lake on Friday, July 29.

The day after the body a found near the W.R. Bennett Bridge, RCMP issued a media release saying it was trying to determine whether criminality was involved.

Kelowna resident Wyne Zablan, 25, has since been arrested and charged and is now in custody.

"Police have now positively identified the victim and will not be releasing his name pending notification of his next of kin," RCMP Southeast District Insp. Brent Novakoski said in a media release issued today, Aug. 2.

"It is evident that Mr. Zablan and the victim knew each other and we feel that there is no risk to the public."

Police had originally described the victim as an Asian male between the ages of 20 and 40.

Zablan will appear in court at the end of August.

Should you have any information on this incident, and have not spoken with police please call the SED MCU information line at 1-877-987-8477.


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Ben Bulmer

After a decade of globetrotting, U.K. native Ben Bulmer ended up settling in Canada in 2009. Calling Vancouver home he headed back to school and studied journalism at Langara College. From there he headed to Ottawa before winding up in a small anglophone village in Quebec, where he worked for three years at a feisty English language newspaper. Ben is always on the hunt for a good story, an interesting tale and to dig up what really matters to the community.