After an extensive search and rescue mission, Wilderness Seaplanes Pilot Ryan MacDonald’s body has been found.
According to a Port Hardy RCMP press release, on May 11 the Port Hardy/Port Alice Detachment recovered MacDonald’s body from the Marble River “in the general vicinity where he went missing and was presumed drowned on or about April 6, 2018.”
MacDonald had been reported missing on April 9 after failing to show up at work after he had planned to attend a remote cabin on Alice Lake the previous Friday.
The press release noted his truck and boat trailer were “located near the Marble River Campground and his small boat was found overturned in the middle of the rapids just down stream from the Marble River Bridge on Highway 30 to Port Alice.”
Initial search efforts to find MacDonald were called off after two days due to dangerous conditions on the river, which were caused by heavy rains.
“On May 11, police had been alerted that it appeared that a body could be seen aground on a high spot in a pool on the river near the Marble River Campground,” stated the release. “The water level on the Marble River has receded significantly since the search efforts had to be called off in mid-April due to safety concerns for the searchers.”
RCMP attended and found the body in the river, and were able to “recover the body without the aid of support units as the water was shallow and slow moving in the area it was located.”
Police confirmed the body was MacDonald.
The matter has now been turned over to the BC Coroner Service.
– with files from Port Hardy RCMP
