After days of extensive searching, the body of a missing 13-year-old has been recovered from the waters at Cultus Lake. The RCMP says the girl had been paddleboarding on Saturday when she suffered a medical emergency and fell in the water.

“The underwater recovery team used sonar to locate the area in the area of Entrance Bay,” said Cpl. Carmen Kiener with the Upper Fraser Valley RCMP. “She was located 20 metres below the surface of the water. There is heavy silt; it can be kicked up quite a bit if there’s lots of people and it can really prevent visibility to see people underneath.”

According to police, the girl was not wearing a life jacket.

This tragedy is just one of a few recent drowning incidents in the area.

“About an hour after the 13-year-old was retrieved from the lake, we received a call of a man in the Halfmoon Bay area that had fallen off his paddleboard, was not wearing a life jacket, was not a strong swimmer, and needed rescuing,” Kiener said.

“There was a kayak with two individuals who went to assist the man; one of them also not wearing a life jacket. They fell in the water, and they also needed rescuing.”

According to preliminary numbers from the BC Coroners’ Service, there have been 40 accidental drowning deaths between May 1 and July 16 this year. This is up from 26 reported during the same period last year.

BC Emergency Health Services says it responded to 175 drowning-related response calls from May to July. Paramedic public information officer Brian Twaites says even the strongest swimmers can be susceptible to drowning.

“There are so many risk factors,” Twaites said. “That includes not knowing where you are in the water, how deep it is, how cold it is. Another big risk that we want people to be aware of: alcohol and recreational drugs just don’t mix.”

As well, parents need to take extra care, he says.

“If you are at the lake with children, we want you to have ‘touch supervision,’” he said.

“That means have your child within arm’s reach in case something goes wrong.”

For those who don’t have their own life jackets, there are free ones to borrow at Cultus Lake.

“It is called Kids Don’t Float, so it’s two little huts where you can go and get a free life jacket that will fit you, and you can borrow it and just return it at the end of the day,” Kiener said.

“We encourage anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable to please borrow one.”