The man, still unidentified by police, was driving along the road on the evening of April 1 when an estimated 20,000 tons of rock and mud came down a hillside.
His body and the truck he was driving was spotted by search-and-rescue volunteers using a camera-equipped remote underwater vehicle to scan the lake in the area where the slide occurred, about 13 km north of West sa国际传媒.听
Due to the depth of the water where the mansa国际传媒 body was located, recovery will be conducted by RCMP divers.听
鈥淥ur thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the deceased during this difficult time,鈥 said Ed Henczel of Central Okanagan Search and Rescue.听
March was a particularly wet month, with 495 mm of precipitation, more than twice the usual amount. Where it crossed Westside Road, the extent of the mudslide was estimated at 50 metres in width and two metres in depth. The force of the slide scoured a deep trench through the mud and the debris field extended to the lakeshore.听
Westside Road is lightly travelled, particularly at this time of year. There are about 3,000 people who live year-round in the unincorporated communities that stretch between West sa国际传媒 and the Vernon area.听
Immediately after the slide, there was some concern that people in a reported homeless encampment may have been affected. But an initial check by search-and-rescue volunteers was conducted and nothing was found.听
However, in the days after the slide, a missing persons investigation was launched after police were contacted by a Vernon-area family. Some items associated with that person were then found in the slide area.听
That search involved ground teams, drones, marine units, and dog sniffers.听
Henczel said one of the dogs detected a scent in one particular area.听
鈥淎 critical breakthrough occurred when K9 鈥楤arret鈥, deployed on our Sweatman boat, gave a strong indication over the water consistent with the predicted location of the debris field from the slide, thereby significantly narrowing the search area,鈥 Henczel said.听
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