Critical response team to support students mourning loss of Okanagan cliff jumping victim

The Central Okanagan School District (SD 23) says its critical response team has been deployed to support students mourning the loss of Kurtis Roy.

The 18-year-old Rutland Senior Secondary School graduate died while cliff jumping at a popular site at the southeast end of Skaha Lake near Okanagan Falls on Friday.

RCMP said the young man jumped off a point approximately 110 feet above the lake and failed to resurface around 4 p.m. on Aug. 30.

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Officers from Penticton RCMP with support from Penticton and Okanagan Search and Rescue and RCMP Air Services searched the area, however the man was not located.

Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said the RCMP’s Underwater Recovery Team located the man’s body Saturday morning just after 7 a.m.

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On Monday, School District 23 superintendent Kevin Kaardal said support workers will be at both Rutland Senior Secondary and Kelowna Secondary when classes resume this week.

WATCH: (August 2018) Multiple injuries from cliff jumping in Lynn Canyon

1:31 Multiple injuries from cliff jumping in Lynn Canyon

“We are managing this in a low key manner out of respect for his family,” he said in an email to Global News. “This is tragic loss to his family and friends.”

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Friends are expressing shock at Roy’s untimely passing.

“When I heard about the incident I’m like, ‘Wow, he is so young,'” one classmate told Global News.

Some area residents are calling for improved safety measures near the cliff edges to prevent people from jumping.

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“We as a small community need to also take responsibility of this issue,” Okanagan Falls resident Carol McGowan said.

Okanagan Falls volunteer fire department chief Rob Oliver said the cliffs off Eastside Road have been the scene of numerous fatalities over the past several years.

“I can’t give you an exact number of how many, but it’s more than half a dozen people who have died there,” he told Global News.

“We put a plaque up there saying how many people have died on those cliffs, they put a fence up there but they still go around the fence,” he said.

Oliver said he’d like to see the fence fixed after someone cut it to gain access to the highest cliff edges.

“No trespassing” signs are also visible in the area.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure maintains fencing around the province to protect the public and road users.

A spokesperson said a local maintenance contractor is assessing the damage to the fence “and will make the necessary repairs.”

The BC Coroners Service is investigating.