UPDATE: RCMP locate man thought to have drowned in Okanagan lake

UPDATE Monday, Oct 16
A man last seen entering Okanagan Lake during a search for a suspect has been located safe, according to RCMP.

Vernon North Okanagan mounties suspect the 38-year-old managed to swim across the lake.

An extensive search of the lake was made over the weekend.

Police thanked the media and the public for assistance locating the missing subject.

He is not in police custody but has been taken to hospital for medical assessment, Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said.

UPDATE Sunday, Oct. 15

RCMP confirm that a man is missing in Okanagan Lake after police tried to arrest him in the Vernon area.

The incident occurred shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday in the 8700 block of Okanagan Landing Road where a resident called the police after the man tried to enter the resident’s home.

Police say the man, who appeared to be distraught, was confronted by the resident. Police showed up and the man fled on foot.

RCMP say that as officers were setting up a containment area, they heard splashing noises coming from the lake and witnessed the man swimming away from shore.

They searched the lake but couldn’t located the man.

The search continues.

The man’s name has not been released.

Original story: 

The search continues for a man believed to have drowned in Okanagan Lake.

Vernon Search and Rescue says it was called at around 5 a.m. Saturday to help RCMP find a man they had been chasing on foot near the end of Eastside Road.

“We got called out this morning at about 5:45 a.m. for a subject that RCMP think has gone into the lake,” Leigh Pearson of Vernon Search and Rescue said.

RCMP think the male they were chasing went into the lake because that’s the last place they saw him. RCMP have yet to comment, but neighbours are talking.

Neighbours said they heard a commotion at around four o’clock. Mary Evans said she was woken up by police lights and that her husband heard footsteps. She said that the suspect tried to take their dingy but resorted to stealing a neighbour’s kayak and making it out on to the lake.

“I know that the next door neighbour’s red kayak was taken because that was on the beach — the public beach. He (suspect) had gone into our shed and pulled out our dingy but without paddles you’re not going to get very far in either one of those things,” Evans said.

Vernon Search and Rescue said if the male did go into the water, his chances of survival are pretty slim.

“In 11 degree water, your time is extremely short,” Pearson said.

Meanwhile, the incident has left Evans and her neighbours wondering: Why would someone do something so desperate that would appear to have cost him his life?

“That’s what we all want to figure out is what had he done that made him so desperate?” Evans said.

Vernon Search and Rescue said if the male drowned in the lake, the body could remain submerged for up to 10 days before it rises to the surface.