A 17-year-old student from DP Todd Secondary has been identified as the victim following a boating accident north of Wells over the weekend.
School District 57 confirmed in a letter to parents that a 17-year old who attended the high school was missing and presumed drowned.
Quesnel RCMP Sergeant Clay Kronebusch confirmed a boat capsized on Saturday afternoon in Stony Lake.
He added there were four people in the boat, which was a small personal water craft, and three of the people managed to swim to shore.
Police received a call to come to the scene at 2:53 p.m. and Quesnel Search and Rescue was called shortly after that.
Bob Hollowenko, Public Information Officer with Search and Rescue, says they responded with two jet boats.
“We began assisting in a shoreline search and did eventually come across the debris field from the vessel. There were other agencies that were on site. The BC Conservation Service did have a vessel in the water as well, and between all of the boats and search and rescue teams we were not successful in finding the subject.”
Hollowenko stated they did however, find the area where they believe that the capsizing happened.
He said they were on scene for quite a while.
“QSAR was out there until the evening and didn’t return until quite late in the evening.”
“Our efforts to locate the boy are ongoing with our Underwater Recover Team anticipated to arrive tomorrow (Tuesday),” said Staff Sergeant Kris Clark of the BC RCMP (in a news release). “Our thoughts are with the family, friends and loved ones as they cope with this tragic loss.”
A Go Fund Me has been started and can be found here.
– story done by George Henderson, My Cariboo Now staff with files from Brendan Pawliw
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