B.C. man, boat still missing after October mayday call: RCMP
Posted November 2, 2023 1:22 pm.
A peculiar case has Mounties on the Sunshine Coast asking the public for help.
The Powell River RCMP says Mark Braunagel is considered a missing person. Investigators say the man went to Texada Island on Oct. 15 to buy a boat.
While there, he hired a person from the island to help him run the boat. The pair was last seen leaving Texada Island.
A day later, investigators say the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre received a mayday call from the same boat. The call reported the vessel was “taking on water” south of Hornby Island.
While search teams were dispatched, “no one was located, and there was no evidence of the boat,” the RCMP explains.
On Oct. 22, around 2 p.m., Mounties say the body of one of the people on board the vessel Braunagel was buying washed up on Gabriola Island. Braunagel remains unaccounted for.
Mounties are asking for anyone who may have information to help in the investigation, or anyone who comes across “any evidence of boat wreckage in the area” to contact the Powell River RCMP at 604-485-6255.
