The bodies of two men recovered in U.S. waters are in the hands of the coroner service, but officials can’t say they’re that of two men missing in the waters off the Saanich Peninsula.
“The identity of the persons recovered have yet to be determined and out of respect for the family, the sheriff’s office will not speculate as to whether or not these are the missing Canadian kayakers,” San Juan County Sheriff Eric Peter said.
Daniel MacAlpine, 36, and Nicolas West, 26, were using a two-person kayak to paddle from D’Arcy Island to Island View Beach in Central Saanich on Saturday (April 20) and did not return, spurring a search by RCMP, Central Saanich police, PEMO Search and Rescue, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre and the Canadian Coast Guard.
San Juan County Sheriff’s Office joined the search on the U.S. side Sunday (April 21).
An empty kayak was subsequently located on Henry Island.
On Monday (April 22) around 3 p.m., the sheriffs office was called about a body floating against the rocks in Grandma’s Cove on the southwest side of San Juan Island. Deputies responded and saw the body then launched the sheriff’s boat.
The body of one man was recovered from the water and turned over to the coroner’s office.
On Tuesday morning around 6:30 a.m. the office was called regarding a second body floating in the water in Middle Channel, south of Cattle Point at the southernmost point of San Juan Island and west of Iceberg Point – west of the southern point of Lopez Island.
The sheriff’s office again launched its boat and recovered the body of a man from the water.
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