A 75-year-old Garden Bay man's drive home Wednesday night ended in tragedy when his minivan hit a tree then submerged into Mixal Lake, according to Sunshine Coast RCMP. Members of the RCMP underwater recovery team arrived Thursday morning to retrieve the body.
As Coast Reporter went to press Thursday afternoon, RCMP were still investigating the cause of the crash; officers were at the scene Wednesday and Thursday.
Police are not releasing the man's name, though the family has been notified, according to Cpl. Wayne Plimmer, who dives with the underwater recovery team. The B.C. Coroners Service will be investigating the cause of death.
According to Plimmer, a Pender Harbour volunteer firefighter dove to take a look Wednesday night and informed police of the minivan, its licence plate and its occupant. From that information police were able to get a good idea of the identity of the occupant before the first RCMP dive team member went down.
The 1996 green Ford Windstar was at least 24 feet below the lake's surface propped on its side, almost on its roof, with the deceased man inside. On the side of Irvines Landing Road, tire tracks were visible.
The dive team, Const. Martin Neveu of Langley and Sgt. Dave Attfield of Surrey, took the first ferry to the Coast Thursday morning. Once Neveu came up from the initial dive, police called the Coroners Service and Mountain View Towing. Both had been previously notified and were awaiting confirmation to attend.
