The search for a 43-year-old man who had been thrown overboard after a boating accident in Finlayson Arm has been suspended, while a mother and infant, who were also thrown from the vessel, recover in hospital.
The search for Greater Victoria resident Ryan Mazar was suspended at 10 a.m. Wednesday (April 23), confirmed West Shore RCMP’s Cpl. Nancy Saggar.
“The area for searching has been saturated at this point,” she said. “That doesn't mean that we can't continue or re-engage in that search, but at this point it is suspended.”
RCMP was first alerted to the incident on Tuesday (April 22) at 6.15 p.m. by a Highlands resident who had noticed the unoccupied 20-foot boat “going around in circles” in the ocean at Finlayson Arm, past Goldstream Provincial Park.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria was contacted, and Canadian Armed Forces and Canadian Coast Guard search and rescue teams were deployed by air and by boat.
An hour into the search, a mother and infant under six months old were found on shore nearby in medical distress caused by exposure to the elements, “the child especially,” said Saggar.
The two, who were in a “pretty critical state,” were given first aid by RCMP officers and search and rescue crew members before being transported to hospital for ongoing care.
Saggar believes the mother was able to save the child after being thrown overboard and swim to shore. “I really think that the self-rescue in this is what saved these two individuals,” she said.
The mother and infant are thought to have been exposed to the elements for a “pretty significant amount of time,” as the unoccupied boat had “probably [been] circling for some time before it was noticed,” said Saggar.
According to Saggar, none of the occupants were wearing life jackets. “This is not to shame anybody at all, it's a very tragic event,” she said. “I don't think anybody who was on that boat could have predicted what was going to happen … it sounds to be like a true accident … our hearts go out to the families involved.”
The cause of the accident is under investigation, but RCMP believe “no criminality or foul play” was involved, Saggar said.
To respect their privacy, Saggar was unable to confirm the relationship of the three involved in the accident, but did say they were all known to each other and are all residents of Greater Victoria.
Mazar is described as a Caucasian man, between 6'2" and 6'5", approximately 230 pounds. He has brown eyes and short grey hair styled in a mohawk. He has a large nautical-themed tattoo on his left bicep and forearm, and a tattoo in the shape of Vancouver Island on his right arm.
Anyone with information that could assist in locating Mazar is asked to call West Shore RCMP at 250-474-2264.
