A two-day search for a 16-year-old exchange student came to an end after RCMP divers located the body of the missing South Korean teen in Malibu Rapids, approximately 60 km northeast of Powell River, in the early evening, Friday, June 10.
“This is a very sad outcome,” stated Sunshine Coast RCMP constable Harrison Mohr in a media release. “Our hearts go out to this young man’s family, friends and fellow campers. This is the news no one was wanting to hear. At the same time, we truly hope this will help his family find some closure and move a little bit closer to having peace in their lives again.”
The teen was visiting Malibu Club Camp with 14 members of his church group when he fell into the water near the rapids in the afternoon of Wednesday, June 8. According to media reports, the teen was playing volleyball near a cliff when he fell past the safety nets trying to catch a ball.
“After making the discovery with sonar, the team had to wait for slack tide at the narrows before recovering the body later in the day,” stated Mohr.
Mohr described the two-day search as complex and challenging due to its isolated location at the northern end of Jervis Inlet and the rapids’ changing conditions.
