Police on Wednesday (April 24) confirmed that the two bodies recovered from U.S. waters earlier this week belonged to the two men who went missing after kayaking off the Saanich Peninsula.
Sidney/North Saanich RCMP said they got confirmation from the San Juan County Coroner service that the identities of the two bodies located are Daniel MacAlpine, 36, and Nicolas West, 26.
While two bodies were found in the waters off the shores of Washington State on Monday and Tuesday, officials were unable to confirm it was the missing kayakers until Wednesday.
The pair was using a two-person kayak to paddle from D’Arcy Island to Island View Beach in Central Saanich on Saturday (April 20) and did not return, spurring a search by RCMP, Central Saanich police, PEMO Search and Rescue, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre and the Canadian Coast Guard.
San Juan County Sheriff’s Office joined the search on the U.S. side Sunday (April 21).
An empty kayak was subsequently located on Henry Island.
On Monday (April 22) around 3 p.m., the sheriffs office was called about a body floating against the rocks in Grandma’s Cove on the southwest side of San Juan Island. Deputies responded and saw the body then launched the sheriff’s boat.
The body of one man was recovered from the water and turned over to the coroner’s office.
On Tuesday morning around 6:30 a.m., the office was called regarding a second body floating in the water in Middle Channel, south of Cattle Point at the southernmost point of San Juan Island and west of Iceberg Point – west of the southern point of Lopez Island.
The sheriff’s office again launched its boat and recovered the body of a man from the water.
“Sidney/North Saanich RCMP would like to thank all the agencies that were involved in this search and subsequent recovery efforts. Our thoughts are with the families at this time,” said staff Sgt. Wayne Conley of the Sidney/North Saanich RCMP said in a Wednesday news release.
With files from Christine van Reeuwyk
READ: Bodies of 2 men found in U.S. waters in wake of missing Canadian kayakers