Coast guard officials say they have suspended the search for a missing North Vancouver father, after his six-year-old daughter was found dead off the B.C. coast.
An empty boat was found drifting late Saturday night near Anvil Island in Howe Sound, prompting a search effort by the Coast Guard.
RCMP say the girl's body was discovered hours in to the search but her father, a 60-year-old North Vancouver resident, has not been found.
Speaking with CTV Vancouver, family friends have confirmed the girl to be Maddie Liebenberg and her missing father was William Liebenberg, a well-known dentist in the community.
At Liebenberg’s North Vancouver dental practice, where one of his older daughters works as a dental hygienist, a sign was posted on the door Monday saying the office was closed due to a family tragedy.
Dr. Tom Moonen, an orthodontist who has worked next door to Liebenberg for nearly 20 years, said it’s a difficult time for everyone who knew the family.
“It was tough for all of us to come into work this morning because … you’re facing the reality of what has happened,” he told CTV Vancouver.
Liebenberg and Maddie, who was not wearing a life jacket, were supposedly on their way to the family cabin on Gambier Island, north of Vancouver.
Sunshine Coast RCMP will handle further search attempts.
With files from CTV Vancouver