The search for the bodies of three young men involved in a canoe accident on Slocan Lake was called off this week, after 10 days of looking failed to find anything.
Former Gibsons resident Hayden Kyle was among the missing, along with friends Jule Wiltshire-Padfield, 15, and 19-year-old Skye Donnet.
The fourth member of their group, 19-year-old Lily Harmer-Taylor, was found floating near the flipped canoe on May 10; however, repeated attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful.
The depth of the lake (up to 220 metres in some areas) was one of the reasons Central Kootenay Regional RCMP Sgt. Darryl Little gave when cancelling the recovery effort this week.
The RCMP had utilized dive teams, underwater sonar equipment, shoreline patrols and helicopter searches to try to find the missing youths before calling off the search.
Families were notified this week, which prompted Kyle’s relatives to place an obituary in Coast Reporter.
“It is with the greatest sadness that we announce the passing of our son, Hayden, who died in a canoeing accident in Bigelow Bay on Slocan Lake on May 10, 2014,” Kyle’s parents wrote. “Hayden was born in North Vancouver but lived in and attended school here in Gibsons. He had recently moved to the Kootenays and had been living in New Denver, where he was tragically taken from us.”
The family included a poem and Kyle’s last Facebook post on the day of the accident, which read, “Don’t forget tomorrow, for it is important.”
There will be a celebration of life for Kyle on Saturday, May 31, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Chaster House in Gibsons. All of his friends and acquaintances are welcome to attend.
