Police said they located Tuesday the remains of a father who disappeared on July 17 after diving into Ness Lake after his son.
The RCMP's Underwater Recovery Team pulled the 29 year old Prince George man from the lake at 6:30 p.m. He was located by the help of search specialists Gene and Sandy Ralston, an Idaho couple who are experts in the field of underwater imagery. Police said no foul play is suspected and the investigation is being turned over to the BC Coroners Service.
According to reports, the man dove from a boat on the lake to reach his young son who was swimming with a flotation device but had drifted a short distance away. The man and a friend were able to get the child back in the boat, but the father – who wasn't wearing a floatation device – sank under water and didn't resurface.
RCMP have withheld the name of the deceased man at the request of his family.
The Ralstons have assisted the RCMP with underwater searches in northern B.C. before. They assisted in the recovery of Ralph Der's body from Carp Lake in 2012 and the search for Syd Neville in Francois Lake in 2013, which located the body of John Angus Mowat who had drowned in 1984. The Ralstons operate Ralston and Associates, a water sciences company that typically works for industry and government on various projects from fish inventories to water quality surveys to environmental permit verifications. However, they have also used their sophisticated technology to assist in the recovery of more than 85 submerged bodies across North America.
– With files from Charelle Evelyn, Frank Peebles
