A man was found dead in the Cowichan River on June 11, the day after he went missing.
Cowichan Search & Rescue were called to a report of two people missing in the area late in the evening of June 9.
CSAR member Jamie Tudway-Cains said a group of young people were near Paradise Pools, located on the Cowichan River below the Cliffs and Banks roads intersection, when two of them wandered off sometime after 11 p.m. on Monday night.
It was not clear whether the two left the group together or individually.
The parents of a 13-year-old boy, called 911 when he didn’t return home and CSAR was called to search the area.
Tudway-Cains said the boy was found stranded at the bottom of a cliff next to the river at approximately 3 a.m. on June 10 after he responded to CSAR members calling out his name.
“He was swimming in the river and wandered away and got lost,” he said. “We used ropes to get him up the cliff at about 6 a.m. and he was confused and very cold as he was only in his underwear, but he was OK other than a few bruises and, after he was checked over by a medical team, he was released to his father.”
But Tudway-Cains said the search for a 24-year-old man went on for many more hours before he was found dead in the same vicinity of the river where the 13-year-old boy was rescued.
Tudway-Cains said the cause of death is unknown at this time, but the North Cowichan/ Duncan RCMP said in a statement that while criminality does not appear to be a factor, investigators are speaking with witnesses and working closely with the BC Coroner’s Service to determine the circumstances that led to this death.
Anyone who was in the area or has information and has not yet spoken with police is asked to call 250-748-5522.
