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Search for missing boaters enters second week

The search for two men who went missing while boating on Kinbasket Lake last week has entered its second week.
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The recovery effort for two missing men is focused on this area of Kinbasket Lake.

The search for two men who went missing while boating on Kinbasket Lake last week has entered its second week.

Allen Healy, 60, of Osoyoos, B.C., and Michael Murphy, 55, of Mission, B.C., were reported missing after they didn't return from a fishing outing on July 7. They left in their 4-metre aluminum boat from the Mica Dam boat launch at around 6:30 p.m. and when they didn't return to their rooms that night, their co-workers reported them missing and a search was initiated.

On Friday, the search entered recovery mode, with the firm Ralston and Associates Search and Recovery patrolling the water, using side-scan sonar to search the bottom of the reservoir for the two men.

Because the reservoir is still filled with the trees that were not removed before the construction of Mica Dam, the search is proving difficult.

"Over the four days of operation, the lake bottom has been partially mapped and contains heavily forested and rocky terrain," said Staff-Sgt. Kurt Grabinsky of the Revelstoke RCMP in a news release. "This type of lake bottom provides great difficulty for the team. The sonar device has been caught up in these flooded trees at depths of 500 feet. The Ralstons persist to locate the bodies of the two males as well as the boat."

The two men were employees of Western Pacific Enterprises, a contractor working on the Mica Dam.