The search for a missing kayaker who fell in the waters off the east coast of Vancouver Island has come to a tragic end.
Search crews have recovered a man’s body near Union Bay in Comox Valley, next of kin have not yet been notified.
Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue say two young men launched their kayaks from Union Bay with a plan to paddle to the nearby Tree Island on the northern tip of Denman Island around 11 p.m. Saturday night. The men capsized and ended up in the water. One of the two made it to shore and called 911. The other man was last seen clinging to a navigation buoy not far from shore. However as Colin Henthorne with Victoria Joint Rescue tells CFAX 1070 News, "in 7-degree celsius water the body begins to shut down within a very short period of time and our survival models indicate a person can only survive for 3 hours in water that cold." Rescue teams searched throughout the night and day but could not locate the missing man.
The search was then handed over to the Courtney RCMP. The kayaker who made it to shore was wearing a life jacket the kayaker who did not survive was not.