A tragic fishing trip on Gull Lake which claimed the life of two men has left their colleagues at the Rafter Six Ranch Resort devastated.
The bodies of Kelly Birch, 45, and Josh Grove, 24, were pulled out of Gull Lake Friday morning following an extensive search of the area.
"It's a very tragic time right now for us, for our staff and our families," said Stan Cowley the owner of Rafter Six Ranch Resort.
Birch, who was originally from Prince George, B.C. had worked at the ranch for eight years as the executive head chef and lived their with his wife. Grove had been at the ranch for about 3 years, working alongside Birch as a junior chef.
The two men told co-workers they were going to get in one last fishing trip before the busy Christmas rush at the ranch. They left on Monday with their truck and canoe and never returned.
"There was some weather conditions that could have contributed to it, we do not have any witnesses obviously, we're going to be looking at all aspects of it. Right now it appears to be a tragic accident for these two individuals," said RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb.
Investigators say the duo didn't drown, but have actually died from hypothermia.
"They still had their lifejackets on, they were dressed really warm, but once you're in the water, I guess it doesn't really matter," said Cowley.
The flag at the resort has been lowered to half mast as co-workers come to grips with the tragic deaths.
"It really hit the staff really hard it's a very small little group here, it's our own little community. Most of the staff live on the premises so you're with these people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," said Food and Beverage Manager James Stuart-Lyon.
With files from Erin Isfeld
