Image: Mission Search and Rescue / File photo of Mission Search and Rescue. Mission SAR was activated Friday night following a boating accident in the Nicomen Slough. A 37-year-old man from Dewdney is presumed deceased, according to a statement from Mission RCMP, and Mission SAR and other first responders will be back today searching for the 37-year-old. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Boating fatality

Update: Body of Dewdney man located

Jun 15, 2024 | 12:02 PM

**Update at 6 p.m. Saturday: Mission RCMP says search crews have located the body of the missing boater in Dewdney. According to an update from police, Mounties say late Saturday afternoon, search and rescue crews managed to locate and recover the body of the boat operator who died as a result of a boating accident in Nicomen Slough on Friday. Mission Search and Rescue and Mission RCMP would like to thank the public for their concern, especially those who offered to assist in the search efforts, and they send their deepest condolences to the man’s family and friends.**

Original story from Saturday morning:

DEWDNEY — Mission RCMP says a 37-year-old man from Dewdney is missing in what will likely become a recovery mission after a boating accident occurred in the Nicomen Slough shortly before 6:30 p.m. Friday night (June 14).

According to a statement from Mission RCMP spokesperson Corporal Harrison Mohr, two men were in a small flat-bottom aluminum boat, and were reportedly doing donuts in the water when they hit their own wake, ejecting both men from the boat. The passenger of the boat was able to make it to shore, while the driver of the boat has not been located.

Mission Search and Rescue conducted an extensive search of the area well into the night, but the man was not located.

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Mission Search and Rescue, supported by Central Fraser Valley Search and Rescue and South Fraser Search and Rescue, will be back in the area today (Saturday), although searchers believe this will likely be a recovery mission at this point, Cpl. Mohr said.

The area of the Nicomen Slough where the accident happened is only about twelve feet deep, and there is no real current going through there right now, Cpl. Mohr said.

Search teams scoured the water and the shoreline on Friday night, and they believe it is unlikely that the driver is still alive, Cpl. Mohr said. Neither the driver nor the passenger were wearing life jackets, and alcohol may also have played a factor in the incident.

“This is a tragic end to what was supposed to be an enjoyable evening on the water,” Cpl. Mohr said. “Our thoughts are with the man’s family and friends, and with the passenger that had been with him on the boat. As we enter peak boating season, please remember to always wear a life jacket when you’re on the water, as it only takes a second for something to go terribly wrong. It’s like a seatbelt in a car – it only works if you wear it.”

Mission RCMP will continue to work together with Mission Search and Rescue on this incident, and will deploy RCMP divers as well if needed. Searchers are expected to be on scene throughout most of Saturday.