Cranbrook RCMP, Search and Rescue, family and friends continue to search for a 20-year-old Jaffray man who is believed to have driven off the Bull River Forest Service Road on Monday, June 24 and was last seen at 11:15 p.m. that night.
Search efforts have been scaled back due to high water levels in the Bull River and increased turbidity, which continues to hamper everyone’s efforts to locate the vehicle and driver.
The police investigation and search efforts have confirmed a location where a vehicle left the Bull River Forest Service Road and is presumed to have entered the Bull River.
Items recovered at the scene and from locations down river have been confirmed by family as belonging to 20-year-old Ezekiel “Zeke” Fantuz of Jaffray.
The police and family have a high degree of certainty that the missing vehicle is located in the Bull River at the location where it went off the road, however Zeke has not been located and is presumed to be deceased.
The RCMP are requesting the assistance of all users on the Bull River and Kootenay River such as kayakers, rafters, boaters and fishermen to be aware of this investigation and to be on the lookout for any items associated to this case and to report the finding of them to police.
The RCMP would like to thank all the people who have and are continuing to assist in this case.
The family of Zeke Fantuz wants the public to know that they will be holding a memorial service for Zeke on Saturday, July 6 at 10 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Jaffray with a reception after at the Jaffray Community Hall.
If anyone has any additional information they can call the Cranbrook RCMP at 250-489-3471 or East Kootenay Crimestoppers (1-800-222-TIPS).