A friend of an Edmonton-area man who drowned in a lake in Sicamous, B.C. earlier this week is remembering him as a loving uncle and a caring man.
The body of Tyler Rivard, 26, was discovered in Mara Lake on Monday afternoon, hours after he disappeared from the shore.
RCMP said the victim may have swam into the lake after another man was heard yelling for help at around 4 a.m. The person who was in the water first, in apparent distress, made it back to shore safely, police said.
On Wednesday, a close friend told Global News that Rivard loved his nieces and nephews. Rivard had four nephews, one niece and was about to be an uncle for the sixth time.
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“Tyler was a strong guy that would always stick up for what is best for himself. He is a caring guy that would put his nieces and nephews ahead of everything and did whatever he could to make his friends and family happy over himself,” Marc Picard said.
“The fact that he risked his life to jump in that lake to save somebody says a lot about his character and what kind of heart he had.
“When I last spoke to him on Saturday, he told me how excited he was for this new baby to be on the way. Tyler and I have been through everything together. We probably know more about each other than our own families will ever know.”
RCMP said the man was visiting friends in B.C. who reported him missing on Monday morning.
The investigation has been turned over to the B.C. Coroners Service.
Mara Lake is approximately 60 kilometres north of Vernon.
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