UPDATE:
RCMP said as a result of an autopsy performed on Wednesday afternoon, investigators no longer consider the death of Andrew Gangl to be suspicious.
Mounties continue to assist the B.C. Coroner’s Service in the investigation.
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RCMP said the body of a 24-year-old from Alberta was pulled from the channel located on the outskirts of Okanagan Falls on Friday.
RCMP issued a statement that they have deemed Andrew Scott Gangl’s death suspicious pending the results of an autopsy that will be performed on today. The RCMP Southeast District Major Crimes Unit and Penticton RCMP continue to investigate and have brought in divers and the Police Dog Service to assist.
Const. Kris Clark said Gangl was last seen walking near the Okanagan Falls Elementary School in the area of Cedar Street on April 24 shortly after 7 p.m., a day before his body was discovered.
According to his Facebook page, Gangl had spent the Easter weekend in the Okanagan. Friends of the man expressed their sadness on social media, sharing pictures of the last time they were together.
Penticton RCMP received a report of a male floating in the channel on Friday morning and began the search for a possible drowning about two kilometres downstream of the Skaha Lake outlet dam off Green Lake Road. Members of the Okanagan Falls Volunteer Fire Department, RCMP and B.C. Ambulance service attended. By 10 a.m. Penticton Search and Rescue was called in by the B.C. Coroner’s Service to help recover a body.
“Fourteen SAR members from Penticton SAR along with the assistance from Oliver Search and Rescue responded to the Okanagan River canal several kilometres south of Okanagan Falls,” said Randy Brown, public relations officer for Penticton SAR.
“As the event was water-related, the SAR manager in charge utilized five swiftwater rescue technicians from Penticton and Oliver to recover a body from the river.”
Police are seeking the assistance of the public in determining the activities of the 24-year-old Edmonton man prior to his body being recovered from the Okanagan River last Friday morning, said Const. Clark.
Gangl is described as a caucasian male, 5’7, 140 pounds with a slim build, blue eyes and red-blonde hair. RCMP said when he was last seen he was possibly wearing a black Chicago Blackhawks baseball hat, dark coloured jacket, blue Adidas runners with red stripes and was carrying a black backpack.
“Investigators are also interested in hearing from anyone who was in the area of the Okanagan River, including Skaha Dam, Okanagan Falls Provincial Campground and nearby walking paths during that same time period and has not yet been spoken to by police,” said Clark.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the Penticton RCMP at 250-492-4300, the RCMP Southeast District tip line at 1-877-987-8477 or remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
