NEAR SICAMOUS – Friends have identified a 51-year-old Calgary man whose body was recovered from Shuswap Lake following a weekend boating accident.
Details of the accident are sparse, but police say a boat crashed in Shuswap Lake’s Hungry Cove around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The man driving the 45-foot vessel was thrown from the boat when it happened.
A second man was on board in the boat’s cabin. He was rescued Saturday night by passing houseboaters and taken to hospital, where he remains in serious condition.
Two dogs were also saved from the boat.
An RCMP dive team was called in Sunday morning to search for the missing boat driver, and on Monday morning the team found the 51-year-old roughly 15 feet from the scene in 20 feet of water.
He has been identified by friends as Darryl Johnston, an employee at Softchoice.
Police aren’t pinpointing what caused the crash, but say because of the time of night, visibility was likely a factor.
RCMP say all boats should have proper safety equipment on external lights and couldn’t confirm if this vessel has either.
Multiple coves in the Shuswap are very rocky with large boulders and police say the boat may have hit a rock to cause the crash.
Sicamous RCMP and the BC Coroners Service are still investigating.
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