Body found in tragic death of Christina Lake man

By Mona Mattei

There has been a tragic end to the story of the man who went missing from Christina Lake in January. A body found last Friday has been identified as 49-year-old Shawn McDonald. An unsuspecting hiker came across the body many feet down an embankment from a local trail in the afternoon, explained Staff Sergeant Jim Harrison of the Grand Forks RCMP.

 

“He was about a kilometre off the highway, and he was buried and frozen into the snow,” said Harrison.

 

The Christina Lake Fire Department assisted the RCMP in recovering McDonald’s body. The B.C. Coroner’s office will conduct a post mortem examination today.

 

“Preliminary observations indicate that he fell down the embankment and may or may not have been able to get back up and ultimately died of hypothermia,” explained Harrison.

 

Harrison said that there were indications at the scene that are common in severe hypothermia cases.

 

McDonald was last seen on New Year’s day but was not reported missing until Jan. 3. At the time RCMP and Search and Rescue units did ground searches for him with no results. 

Based on interviews with McDonald’s friends and family, RCMP do not believe that foul play was a factor in his death. McDonald was originally from Surrey, B.C.