U.S. authorities recover 2 bodies amid search for B.C. kayakers

Joel Ballard · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 23, 2024 12:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

UPDATE — April 24, 2024: RCMP confirm 2 missing kayakers found dead in Washington state

The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office in Washington state says it has recovered the bodies of two people from its waters, but their identities have yet to be confirmed.

The discoveries in the waters off San Juan Island come three days after a search began for two kayakers last seen off the shore of Sidney, B.C., on southeast Vancouver Island.

Sheriff Eric Peter says the first body, of a man, was reported on Monday around 3 p.m. PT. He said authorities found the body floating in the water against the rocks in Grandma’s Cove, on the south side of San Juan Island.

The second body was reported Tuesday around 6:30 a.m. PT, located in Middle Channel to the south of the island. 

Peter says both bodies were recovered wearing life jackets. The bodies were turned over to the coroner’s office.

“Out of respect for the family, the Sheriff’s office will not speculate as to whether or not these are the missing Canadian kayakers,” Peter said.

On Monday, RCMP said a body had been recovered by authorities in Washington state and was believed to be one of the two missing kayakers, who were named as Daniel MacAlpine, 36, and Nicolas West, 26.

A search has been underway in the waters off Sidney, B.C., about 25 kilometres north of Victoria, since the kayakers were reported missing.

RCMP previously said MacAlpine and West went missing on Saturday afternoon while kayaking from D’Arcy Island to Island View Beach, just south of Sidney on Vancouver Island. They were in a teal blue, fibreglass, two-person kayak.

Police said members of the Central Saanich Police Department and Peninsula Emergency Measures Organization search and rescue were involved in the search, and the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre and Canadian Coast Guard were also assisting.