Teen’s body recovered from river

It was a heartbreaking find, but the discovery of a body in the South Saskatchewan River was “a huge relief ” for Justin Warwaruk’s family, says an RCMP officer involved in the days-long search for the 17-year-old swimmer who went missing on Sunday night.

“This is, of course, a tragic and extremely difficult time for the family, but it also helps to bring some closure for them,” RCMP Staff Sgt. Greg Abbott told media on Friday.

A body believed to be Warwaruk was found Friday morning nearly two kilometres downriver from the Fred Heal canoe launch, where Warwaruk was last seen on July 16.

According to a crowdfunding page set up to support the search, the teen was swimming there with friends when he dove underwater and disappeared.

Members of the RCMP, along with city police, fire department staff, Saskatoon Search and Rescue and Corman Park Search and Rescue have been searching for him. Abbott said it’s not unusual for a body to be recovered so far from where a person went missing.

“The main channel of the river — even when the river is low — is very fast. We observed that in the course of the past week, just how fast that flow is in the main channel of the river,” he said.

People from the Town of Outlook, where Warwaruk was from, have played a huge role in supporting the family and searchers since Sunday night, Abbott said.

“It really was overwhelming for the family to see the kind of family support and the kind of community support that they had involved in this. We can’t thank the family and friends of this particular family enough for giving their support and for volunteering all that they did in trying to bring this to a conclusion.”

A crowdfunding page to support the search for Warwaruk had raised close to $30,000 by Friday afternoon.