One dead, three missing after canoe flips on lake

‘She was just a marvellous woman,’ friend says

A family friend says a young woman who died in a boating accident in the West Kootenay region was an optimistic person filled with life.

Dan Nicholson, a family friend, says that Lily Harmer- Taylor was the 19- year- old woman who died after a canoe overturned in Slocan Lake.

“She grew up in the community — I’ve known her for many, many years,” said Nicholson. “She was just a marvellous woman.”

Police have not confirmed the dead woman’s identity.

Police and local fire and rescue teams continued Sunday to sweep Slocan Lake for three male youths who were in the canoe and remain missing.

Nicholson says he lent his canoe to the four, who were a group of close friends.

He says the group included Harmer- Taylor, Jule Wiltshire-- Padfield, Hayden Kyle and Skye Donnet. Harmer- Taylor and Wiltshire-Padfield are from New Denver while Kyle and Donnet are originally from Gibsons.

Nicholson says Harmer- Taylor was planning a hitchhiking trip across Canada with 15- year- old Wiltshire-Padfield, who was her boyfriend.

He says 21- year- old Kyle had recently found a job as an electrician and that 18- year- old Donnet was working in construction.

Nicholson says they were all good friends who would come over to his place whenever they needed a place to stay.

“I loved those kids, they were wonderful, they were delightful, they brought joy to my life,” he said.

RCMP Sgt. Darryl Little says emergency crews were called out to Slocan Lake on Saturday, where they found an unconscious woman and rushed her to hospital. She later died. Grief counselling is now available at a New Denver elementary school.