'A moment of profound sadness': Young man's body recovered from B.C. lake

Hussein Omairi is seen in a photo provided on behalf of his family.

The body of a young man who drowned in Windermere Lake in Invermere, B.C. last weekend has now been found, Mounties confirmed.

Hussein Omairi, 26, was on the lake in a rented pontoon boat with friends on Saturday afternoon when he fell into the water and never resurfaced, according to his loved ones.

“Today, I share a moment of profound sadness and gratitude, we grieve the loss of our beloved Hussein, whose life’s purpose took an unexpected turn,” a loved one wrote Wednesday, the day he was found, on an Instagram page set up for the search effort.

“His stories, his enchanting smile, all of it will endure through the memories we share.”

Police confirmed the drowning death Thursday.

Omairi’s uncle, Mohamed Darwich, told CTV News on Tuesday that the family hired private divers from Manitoba to search for the missing man.

“Because the RCMP decided to give up and not continue the search,” he said. According to Darwich, police sent two divers on Monday, who searched for a few hours and then left.

“To be out there for a few hours and then leave and say this is all we can do… that’s uncalled for,” he said.

“He is under water, he’s gone to us, God has taken him from us, but to have a system in place where we don’t have the support from the government, from the RCMP to do the search and find the body to give the mother closure, this is what’s getting to us,” he continued.

“It hurts us when we have to hire divers from Manitoba and we have to pay for it ourselves.”

Police said in a news release Tuesday that their search effort was continuing, and that it involved firefighters and search and rescue crews. Cpl. James Grandy confirmed to CTV news on Thursday that Omairi was found by the private diving company Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team, aka HEART.

“We don’t want to see other families go through this,” Darwich said.