Calgary family exhausting all options in recovery effort of missing kayaker presumed drowned in the Okanagan

A 26-year-old Calgary man living in Vernon, B.C. is presumed drowned after he became separated from his friends while kayaking last month.

Eli Buruca was kayaking Kalamalka Lake near Coldstream and Vernon with two friends on the evening of July 24.

A storm hit the lake around 9:30 p.m and by 11 p.m. his friends had made it back to shore, but Buruca did not. He has still not been found.

His family, with the assistance of RCMP, and Vernon Search and Rescue have scoured the lake for nearly two weeks, with no luck.

With VSAR and RCMP suspending their searches, the family continues to search.

“We've been going out every single day doing our own kind of checks,” said Buruca’s sister Nidia Buruca-Majano.

“We've had people in the community who stepped in and we really appreciate that if people can continue to keep an eye out is probably the biggest thing we can do," she added. "We just really want to find him and get that closure, then get moving with the rest of the steps to put him to rest.”

KIND HEARTED

Buruca-Majano said her brother was kind hearted and had recently moved to Vernon in February for a construction job, that entailed dry walling, taping and framing.

“The saying of people who take their shirt off their back and give it to you, he was very much that person,” she said.

“I would say that was his strength and probably his weakness.”

Buruca-Majano says her brother was kind hearted and had recently moved to Vernon in February for a construction job, that entailed dry walling, taping and framing.

Vernon North Okanagan RCMP said after Buruca and his friends made it to the west side of the lake, after encountering rough conditions, Buruca attempted to paddle back across the lake to Kalamalka Beach.

He was not seen again, but his kayak has been recovered.

Buruca-Majano said her family has dealt with incredible loss in the last several years, losing her older brother as well.

“About two years ago, my older brother passed away as well,” she said.

“My mom wants to do the same thing that we did for him. We had his service in Vancouver, which is what we want to do for Eli as well. Then we would want to take him back to El Salvador and then bury him beside my brother.”

SEEKING EXPERT HELP

The family has sought out a retired American couple who specializes in finding drowning victims with sonar technology.

Gene and Sandy Ralston will arrive in the Okanagan on Monday according to Buruca Majano.

“Given that nothing else has been successful to this point, they are our last hope I would say,” she said.

The couple has worked with the RCMP in the Okanagan before assisting with searches.

“The side scan sonar system's transducer is housed in a tow fish, which is towed through the water a few feet above the bottom,” read the couple’s website.

“The reflected acoustic returns are processed into images similar to aerial photographs, which are viewed in real-time on a computer monitor in the towing vessel.”

The Ralstons said they have located the remains of 128 people in the last 22 years.

In return, they ask that gas and other essentials be covered, when they volunteer their time.

A GoFundMe set up by the family has amassed more than $13,000 to date.