A motorcycle with two occupants traveling toward New Denver lost control and crashed in the Kaslo River.
Kaslo RCMP responded to the incident on Highway 31A, roughly 20 kilometres west of Kaslo on June 21, 2020 at approximately 4:35 PM.
The 70 year-old West Kootenay male driver of the motorcycle was able to swim to the riverbank and drag himself up to the highway. There, he was able to flag a vehicle down for help.
He was taken to an area hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, but his female passenger is still missing.
“A woman in her 60’s, also from the West Kootenays, is believed to have been swept downstream in the fast-flowing river. At this time, the woman is missing, but presumed drowned. Garments worn by the woman have been recovered, including a motorcycle helmet. At this time, it does not appear that impairment was a contributing factor to this crash,” Media Relations Officer Cpl. Mike Halskov reported on June 22.
RCMP, BC Ambulance Service, Swift Water Rescue, Nelson Search and Rescue and RCMP Air Services are actively searching the waters of the Kaslo River for the woman.
However, the search has been described as “complicated” because of high water levels from spring runoff running very fast, and considerable debris in the flow.
West Kootenay Traffic Services (WKTS) in Nelson is conducting the investigation with the assistance of the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service. Anyone with information about this collision, including any dash camera footage is asked to contact WKTS in Nelson at 250-354-5180.