Remains recovered of Irish Gaelic football player who disappeared in B.C. lake

VANCOUVER — The body of a Gaelic football player from Ireland who disappeared in a British Columbia lake last year has been recovered.

The Breaffy Gaelic Athletic Association club posted on its website and social media that it was with both a “great relief and a lot of sadness” that the body of David Gavin was found in Kinbasket Lake north of Revelstoke.

The Irish Sporting and Social Club Vancouver said on its Facebook page that water levels were down at the lake allowing a search to resume and Gavin’s family and girlfriend were there Saturday when his remains were found.

Breaffy said in a previous Facebook post that Gavin went missing on June 30 after jumping into a lake from a logging bridge but an extensive search was called off in the fall due to poor conditions.

Gavin had been playing with the Vancouver club and was travelling with his team to Calgary for the Western Canadian Championship when the incident happened.

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The team manager says Gavin was a friendly and intelligent guy who will be remembered for being a fantastic friend, family member and colleague to many.

“This was just a tragic accident, and if any lesson can be learned from this, it is that people should be very careful when entering unknown waters,” Tadhg Egan said in an email. 

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version referred to the Gavin as a soccer player. He is in fact a Gaelic football player.