Marcel Martin with wife Ivy and their three children. Photo: GoFundMe
Police have confirmed the body of a man believed to have drowned off the coast of Tofino in June was one of three missing Tla-o-qui-aht fishermen.
The three men went missing after their fishing boat capsized on June 15. Five people were on board at the time of the capsizing. One man was able to swim to shore and another was rescued by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel. There was a large-scale land and shore search but the remaining three men were not located.
On July 18, a kayaker found remains near Echachist Island, a few kilometres away from where the vessel capsized. The BC Coroners Service used dental records to identify the remains and RCMP now say the body has been confirmed to be that of a 39-year-old Tofino man who was on the boat when it capsized.
RCMP have not released the name of the man but family members told CHEK News the remains were those of Marcel Martin, a husband and a father of three. Martin had been awarded a medal from the Lifesaving Society B.C. Yukon for his heroic rescue efforts following the sinking of Leviathan II whale watching boat near Tofino in October 2015.
Family said Carl Michael and Terrance Brown Jr. were the other two men who went missing. Police said they are still looking for the 21-year-old man and the 34-year-old man, both from Meares Island, who were on the boat.
CHEK News
