KELOWNA — A search and rescue team in Kelowna, B.C., says a missing person was found about 47 metres deep in a lake after being swept away in a "massive mudslide" earlier this month.
Central Okanagan Emergency Operations says the landslide happened on Westside Road at about 9:45 p.m. on April 1, shutting down the road in both directions.
Central Okanagan Search and Rescue team says in an online statement that its team responded to the scene on April 1 after the mudslide, which sent more than 20,000 tons of debris across the highway into the Okanagan Lake.
The search and rescue team was called off after no reports of missing persons at the time, but says work resumed on April 6 after receiving a report of a missing person who was driving along the road during the slide.
West Kelowna RCMP said last week that it launched a missing person investigation for an individual who was last seen in the landslide area on April 1.
They said some "unique items" believed to belong to the missing person had been located in the area.
The search and rescue team says they spent almost 1,000 volunteer hours on land and in water to hunt for the missing individual, with drones, boats and dogs being deployed to the area.
The team says the missing driver and the vehicle were both found in water on Saturday, and the RCMP underwater recovery team will complete the recovery.
RCMP did not immediately respond to a request for comments upon publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April. 13, 2025.
The Canadian Press
