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UPDATED: West Vancouver man presumed drowned in Osoyoos Lake

A West Vancouver man is presumed drowned in Osoyoos Lake after he fell from a Sea-Doo and did not surface on Sunday evening. RCMP received a call for help just before 6 p.m.
RCMP
RCMP

A West Vancouver man is presumed drowned in Osoyoos Lake after he fell from a Sea-Doo and did not surface on Sunday evening.

RCMP received a call for help just before 6 p.m. after a woman in distress who was floating in the middle of the lake flagged down a passing sail boat.

The woman, also from West Vancouver, told investigators the 34-year-old man was driving the personal watercraft when they both fell off. The Sea-Doo drifted between 50 and 100 feet but the woman had not seen the male driver since they fell off.

Police say the man was not wearing a life jacket.

“These two were the only ones out on the water at the time,” said Sgt. Randy Bosch, Osoyoos RCMP spokesman.

Alcohol isn’t considered a factor in the in the incident, Bosch said.

The search was hampered by high winds and poor weather on Sunday and Monday. The search was still underway at press time on Tuesday.

“We’ve got one RCMP boat out there right now with sonar,” Bosch said. “We’ve got a couple of divers here as a standby.”

Bosch could not say how long the search would go on for.

“At this point, the area is extremely large that we’re looking at simply because it’s very difficult to tell where the accident actually happened.”

The victim’s next of kin have been notified and the RCMP are not releasing his name.