(UPDATE: June 5 @ 7:15 pm) - The RCMP has now confirmed that the body of Amy Sabean has been recovered.
"Sadly, earlier this morning, search and rescue crews located the body of a deceased woman approximately 14 km down stream of the Ashnola River from the collision site, and about 1 km prior to where the Ashnola River enters into the Similkameen River," said Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey.
"Due to the high risk associated to recovering the deceased from the river’s rapidly flowing waters. Search and rescue personnel took the time necessary to safely carry out the recovery mission."
It's since been confirmed that the woman is 43-year-old Amy Sabean and her family has been notified.
The BC Coroners Service has launched its own investigation into Sabean's untimely death.
(UPDATE: June 5 @ 5 pm) - The body of 43-year-old Amy Sabean has reportedly been found, according to her step-daughter, but the RCMP has yet to confirm.
Sabean had been missing since being swept away down the Ashnola River after driving her Chevrolet Blazer into the fast-moving river Friday morning.
The RCMP said that Sabean was driving on Ashnola Road around 10:45 am and was being followed by an associate in a separate vehicle.
Around the four- or five-kilometre marker, he witnessed her drive off the road and into the Ashnola River, which is a tributary of the Similkameen River.
Multiple search and rescue agencies and first responders spent Friday and Saturday scouring the river for Sabean and even alerted border agencies due to the incident's proximity to the United States.
(Original story: June 4 @ 4 pm) - It’s been a chaotic scene along the Ashnola River today, around 10 kilometres west of Keremeos.
The RCMP has confirmed to NowMedia that an older-model white SUV drove into the river, near what our reporter at the scene noted as "a severe turn in the road," around 11 am.
When the vehicle was first discovered in the river, which is currently raging due to the spring freshet, there was no one inside.
Since then, emergency crews and a number of local search and rescue organizations have been scouring the area in hopes of finding the driver.
The search is ongoing several hours after the vehicle entered the water, with multiple helicopters assisting ground crews that are covering a large area spanning several kilometres downriver.
At this time, the SUV remains in the river and the fast-moving currents will make it a difficult extraction when the time is right.
However, the main focus for those in the area right now is locating whoever was behind the wheel when it entered the water.
NowMedia will update this story as more information becomes available.
With files from Gord Goble.
* Editor's note: Our original story indicated the name of the river as the Similkameen. It is in fact the Ashnola River, a tributary of the Similkameen. The story now reflects that update.*
** Thank you to PentictonNow readers Yvonne Bernardy-Dearden and Roxanne Zeiler for alerting us about this situation on Friday. If you have a news tip, email [email protected]!
