Search continues for man, 35, after he and girl, 7, attempt to rescue woman on Lake Diefenbaker

A search is ongoing for 35-year-old Mazen Cruz on Lake Diefenbaker after he went missing on Aug. 20 after trying to save his friend’s life.

Cruz, Victoria Daniels, 26, and her daughter, Rosecelia Primeau, 7, were enjoying a hot Thursday evening on a motorized dingy, periodically stopping to swim.

As the evening wore on and the wind picked up, the group headed for shore. But before arriving, Daniels wanted to have one last swim in the lake.

She said she was immediately pulled under by the strong current and began screaming for help.

Cruz promptly jumped into the water after her but he, too, was carried away by the current.

“Keep swimming to the boat,” Cruz yelled to Daniels.

That was the last time she saw Cruz.

“I kept getting dragged underneath the water and then Mazen jumped in to rescue me,” Daniels said. “He didn’t even reach me, the waves were pushing him farther away.”

It was then that her seven-year-old daughter sprang into action, frantically paddling the boat through the water towards her mother, who was still calling for help as she tried to stay above the water.

“Well, she was paddling and the dog was helping her,” Daniels said. “And the next thing you know, the boat touched my head.”

The efforts of Primeau, who had never before been in a boat, didn’t end there — she then helped pull her mother aboard.

Daniels said she was eventually able to get them and the Cruz’s dog, Logi, to shore.

“She’s seven-years-old — where did she have the mentality to stay calm and not jump in the water?” Rosecelia’s grandmother Faith Primeau-McNichols added. “To actually paddle towards her mom and pull her into the boat.”