Body of international student recovered in Kamloops, B.C., river

An international student’s body has been recovered in a Kamloops, B.C., river, a little over a week after he went missing.

Kamloops RCMP confirmed the body’s discovery in a statement on Tuesday, saying it was recovered near McArthur Island Park, a few kilometres northwest of Overlander Park.

That was where the young man was playing volleyball in the evening of July 6, and rescuers say he got caught in the current as he attempted to retrieve the ball from the Thompson River.

RCMP said they would not be releasing the victim’s name to protect his privacy, and his family had been informed of his recovery.

Sgt. Chris Kienzle, a spokesperson for the Kamloops RCMP, said that the man’s body was found Tuesday morning by a search-and-rescue volunteer who was kayaking the river.

“Family has been updated,” he told CBC News.

“We hope that our contact with them, and the location of their deceased loved one, at least brings some closure to the family and friends.”

Paula Davis, search manager with Kamloops Search and Rescue, previously told CBC News that after the man went to retrieve the ball in the river, he began to struggle. 

“Friends jumped in to try to help him, but they were also … struggling as well,” Davis told host Shelley Joyce on CBC’s Daybreak Kamloops last week.

“The friends were able to get themselves to safety, but unfortunately, the young man wasn’t able to.”

Presumed drowning reignites calls for river safety in Kamloops

Kamloops RCMP said in a statement that they were called around 5:15 p.m. that day to assist with a possible drowning.

Overlander Park is located in the city’s North Shore neighbourhood, right by the confluence of the North and South Thompson rivers. 

Davis had warned the river is “very dangerous this time of year” due to its currents. 

The only designated river swimming beach in Kamloops is Riverside Park, across the river from Overlander Park. 

A few days after the man went missing, rescuers told CBC News that the nature of their mission had changed to a recovery mission, instead of a rescue mission.

The presumed drowning prompted calls for more river safety in the B.C. Interior city. Officials urged caution and asked people to obey signs that warn swimming is dangerous.

Man missing after trying to retrieve a volleyball from Kamloops river