Investigators have determined that the man found in the waters southeast of Gabriola Island on Tuesday may have gone into the water the day before from a B.C. Ferries vessel from Tsawwassen to Duke Point.
Mounties from Gabriola Island and Nanaimo RCMP analyzed B.C. Ferries surveillance footage that showed that the man walked on the Queen of Alberni at Tsawwassen terminal at 8 p.m. on Monday. However, he did not disembark with other passengers at Duke Point, leading police to believe he likely went into the water during the sailing.
“How and why the man came to enter the water remains under examination, however, there is no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved,” said Island district RCMP spokesman Cpl. Darren Lagan.
On Tuesday at 1:15 p.m., a passing boater spotted the body near Thrasher Rock, about three kilometres from Gabriola Island.
The Canadian Coast Guard was dispatched and the body was transferred to an RCMP vessel and then to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
A Cormorant helicopter searched the area for any sign of a capsized vessel and couldn’t find any.
That’s what led Mounties to check the B.C. Ferries surveillance footage.
The man’s name is not being released at the request of his family.The B.C. Coroners Service is taking over the investigation.
It was the second body recovered near Gabriola in three days. On Sunday, 86-year-old Gabriola resident Werner Karl Bachmann went swimming at Twin Beaches. About 50 minutes later, he was spotted in distress and pulled ashore, but could not be resuscitated, the B.C. Coroners Service said
