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Body of 26-year-old Irish man found in B.C. lake

David Gavin, 26, went missing last summer after stopping at Kinbasket Lake en-route to Calgary
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The body of David Gavin, 26, who went missing after diving into Kinbasket lake north of Golden last summer, has been found. (Breaffy GAA/Facebook)

The body of a 26 year-old Irish man who went missing after diving into Kinbasket Lake 55 km northwest of Golden last summer has been been found, social media reports indicate.

David Gavin was travelling from Calgary to Vancouver with his Gaelic football team for a championship competition when they stopped at Kinsbaket Lake Resort for a swim.

At the time, Ciara O’Malley, Gavin’s Girlfriend, said Gavin jumped into the lake off a bridge near Beaver Creek, resurfaced, and then went back under water and was swept away by the undercurrent.

According to Irish media reports his body was found by diver search dogs about 30 metres from the bridge Gavin jumped off.

The Irish Sporting and Social Club of Vancouver said Gavin’s Parents and O’Malley were present when the body was discovered.

Local search and rescue and the RCMP responded to the incident on June 30, but the search was called off on July 4.

After the search was called off, the family raised over $300,000 in a GoFundMe campaign to fund continued search efforts.

Those search efforts were called off for the winter in October, and had just resumed.

A social media post from Gavin’s former football team said water levels had been reduced in recent weeks, allowing for the search to continue.

His former club expressed relief and sadness about the discovery of Gavin’s Body.

“It is great relief and a lot of sadness that David Gavin’s remains have been recovered from Kinbasket Lake,” wrote Gavin’s former club. “Water levels had reduced greatly in recent weeks to allow a search to be resumed.”

Irish media reports indicate Gavin was found Saturday evening.

@Jnsherman
jake.sherman@revelstokereview.com

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