Okanagan paddleboarder body recovered
Updated: 41 minutes ago
October 16 2026 - The body of Kyle Yrjola was recovered from Okanagan Lake on October 15 after a specialized volunteer team from Manitoba located him within hours of beginning its underwater search, far sooner than the multi-day effort that had been anticipated.
Yrjola and his girlfriend Jaycee Martin were paddleboarding on September 22 on the return portion of a crossing between the Fintry area and the east side of the lake when trouble began.
Conditions were reported as calm when they set out. On the way back, in the stretch between Fintry and a point a little north of Coral Beach, the wind increased and waves began to build.
At some point both ended up in the water after losing their paddles. A 911 call was made as the phone’s battery was running low.
Martin was later rescued by a Kelowna Fire Rescue boat, Yrjola could not be located.
Accounts of the final moments include one unconfirmed report that Yrjola lost his grip on his board and attempted to swim after it as it drifted with the wind.
Emergency responders, including fire-department rescue boats, Central Okanagan Search and Rescue and Vernon Search and Rescue, searched the water September 22 into early hours of the next day without success.
Search teams checked the rugged shoreline just north of Ellison Park. A VSAR drone was also deployed.
The following day, September 23, search teams returned with additional resources, including an RCMP helicopter.
After extensive efforts the search was scaled back because of the lake’s depth.
Roughly two weeks later the family contacted the Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team (HEART), a Manitoba-based volunteer group that specializes in underwater recovery.
The team arrived in the North Okanagan late on Wednesday, October 14, and was on the water early Thursday morning.
Jaycee Martin, familiar with the last-known location was on board to help direct the team to where she last saw her boyfriend.
Using that information, HEART began scanning with side-scan sonar.
The team coordinator had indicated that a thorough search in water reaching approximately 600 feet deep in places could take five or six days. Instead, the body was located the same day at more than 400 feet and recovered with the team’s remotely operated vehicle.
Next of kin confirmed the identity. The overall period from the September 22 incident to recovery was 23 days.
Vernon North Okanagan RCMP media relations confirmed the recovery and identification to local media on October 16 and extended condolences.
No formal public release was issued by the detachment. The Coroner has not publicly confirmed the identity.
Okanagan paddleboarder body recovered
Comments