Boaters on the Columbia River just north of the Shelter Bay Campground and Boat Launch encountered “human remains just feet from the water’s edge” late Saturday afternoon, August 6.
The boaters immediately alerted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who went to the scene along with members of the BC Coroner Service.
“The RCMP and BC Coroner Service attended to the area with the Revelstoke Detachment Police Boat, however weather and water conditions had changed drastically which made launching the boat and conducting a recovery very difficult,” Staff Sgt. Kurt Grabinsky, commander of the RCMP’s Revelstoke detachment, said in a statement issued on Tuesday morning..
“Early in the morning of Sunday August 7th, the RCMP and BC Coroners Service (returned to the scene)… and observed a human body located 3 km north of the Shelter Bay campsite. After conducting a scene investigation police were able to rule out foul play and confirmed that the body had arrived there following a drowning. The body was removed from the site.”
The body has not yet been identified, however, in April, Revelstoke resident Les Wetselaar fell into the river and was swept away. His body was never recovered.
Barbara McLintock of the BC Coroners Service told The Current “it may take a bit of time as it often does to confirm the identity of persons who have been in the water for a period of time.”
