UPDATE AT BOTTOM
The search for an elderly Nakusp woman who went missing while driving from Nakusp to Revelstoke on Oct. 24 has ended with a tragic discovery.
Kay Mansour, 83, left Nakusp for an eye appointment in Revelstoke on Oct. 24, but never made it to that appointment. However, her disappearance went undetected for about 11 days.
Nakusp RCMP say she was believed to be staying with friends in Revelstoke for the past 11 days, but when she didn’t get in contact with family back in Nakusp, it was discovered she wasn’t staying with those friends in Revelstoke.
The search began for Mansour on Friday, Nov. 4 when authorities were notified. The next day, an RCMP helicopter spotted a completely submerged vehicle in the man-made reservoir located at the side of Highway 23 about halfway between Shelter Bay and Revelstoke.
On Nov. 6, an RCMP dive team and members of Revelstoke Search & Rescue returned to the scene and recovered the sole occupant from the vehicle.
Revelstoke RCMP Staff-Sgt. Jacquie Olsen said it appears the vehicle left the road, rolled down the reservoir’s embankment and came to rest in about 4.25 metres (14 feet) of water. “The single female occupant was not able to escape before succumbing to the cold water,” Olsen said in a statement.
RCMP traffic analysts are continuing the investigation of the incident.
Prior to her disappearance, Mansour was last spotted on Oct. 24 sitting in her car at the side of Highway 23 just north of the Shelter Bay ferry landing.
RCMP and members of both the Nakusp-based Arrow Lakes Search & Rescue and Revelstoke Search & Rescue conducted searches along the highway corridor between the two communities on Saturday before the discovery was made by the helicopter.
UPDATE:
A media release sent out by the regional RCMP media room caused some confusion amongst media outlets, who are reporting that the vehicle was recovered from the Upper Arrow Lake reservoir. In fact, the vehicle was recovered from the Walter Hardman reservoir, which is the small reservoir right next to Highway 23 about 25 kilometres south of Revelstoke.
Our original story stands as correct, but almost all other media outlets are reporting a different version, so we thought we’d clarify that detail.
