An Israeli man who was swept away by a river while hiking in Western Canada was found dead last week, ending a month-long search, his family said.
The body of Ofakim resident Illya Rechytskyy, 65, was located in Daisy Lake, in British Columbia on July 30, his wife Irina Andreeva wrote on Facebook Thursday.
Rechytskyy, who was originally from Ukraine, had been last seen on July 1 as he was being carried down the Cheakamus River south of the town of Whistler, according to his daughter Veronika Misyura, sparking a large search effort along the river.
“After 30 long days of searching we finally found him, he had been swept away by the river’s current and carried into Daisy Lake,” she wrote on a GoFundMe page set up by the family to pay for funeral costs.
Rechytskyy had been in Whistler to visit his daughter, a photographer who lives in the Canadian ski and nature haven. He had initially been scheduled to fly back to Israel on June 16, but his flight was postponed due to the war with Iran, leaving him with extra time in Canada.
“Had the flight not been canceled, [my] dad would have been at home,” a woman identified as his daughter Maria was quoted telling the Ynet news site.
Misyura said that her father had a routine of going to the river for a swim in the cold water, the Canadian Jewish News reported. After he went missing, the family found his belongings on the riverbank, but not in an area where he would normally dip into the Cheakamus, which is known to have strong currents.
The Cheakamus River in British Columbia, Canada. (Spacewalk/iStock by Getty Images)
Daisy Lake, where Rechytskyy’s body was found, is downstream from where he went missing.
“He was a great gentleman who was always full of ideas for the future. He really fell in love with Whistler and with Canada and he enjoyed taking walks with our dog,” his son-in-law Roman Misyura told the CJN last month. “He was also an avid swimmer who was always tempted to dip in the water every time the family would travel past a lake.”
Dozens of volunteers, helicopters and drone pilots took part in the weeks-long search, including members of the local Israeli ex-pat community, according to the CJN.
“This is a heartbreaking moment, but your efforts brought us the closure we so desperately needed,” Andreeva wrote in a post announcing his death, according to local media.
His daughter remembered Rechytskyy as a writer, an artist “and a devoted family man who loved to share his creations with everyone around him.”
Snow capped mountains are seen in the background as hikers climb to the peak of Whistler mountain in Whistler, British Columbia, Thursday, Aug 4, 2011. (AP/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)
He had recently finished writing his first book, an autobiography titled “Harlequin,” she posted on Facebook on June 2.
“Our father was an Israeli citizen and a proud Jew who lived for more than ten years in the city of Ofakim, Israel,” she wrote after his body was found. “He came to Canada to visit his children on vacation, spending precious family time with us.”
The family is now trying to raise money to pay for funeral costs in Canada.
There was no official comment from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, according to local media. The Foreign Ministry, which usually deals with deaths of Israeli nationals abroad, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
