Man missing after Squamish River crash ID’d as 24-year-old Surrey resident

A camping trip ended in tragedy when a Jeep plunged into the fast-moving river. Three people managed to escape but a 24-year-old man is unaccounted for.

The family of a man who went missing after a vehicle crashed into the Squamish River on Saturday is identifying him as a 24-year-old Surrey resident.

Navdeep Singh Sidhu was camping with a group of six friends over the weekend when the single-vehicle collision occurred near Squamish Valley Road.

Sidhu’s family says four of the men were out searching for firewood along a gravel road about 40 minutes away from the highway around 12:30 a.m. when their vehicle crashed into the river.

“Three of them came out of the car somehow, and then they kind of got swept away further downstream,” said Navjod Dhaliwal, Sidhu’s cousin.

“Two of the guys came out on the side of the road, and the other guy was in middle of a small island where the river kind of splits away,” said Dhawliwal.

He says they were able to hold onto branches and rocks and get themselves out of the freezing cold water.

They then used a cellphone to message 911 for help using a satellite signal.

His cousin, and the older model Jeep Grand Cherokee they were in, were nowhere to be found.

Dhaliwal says he was told by officers that his cousin may have been trapped inside the vehicle when it sank to the bottom of the river.

Search and rescue teams have conducted water, ground and aerial searches of the area – using boats, drones and a helicopter – but so far have turned up no sign of Sidhu or the Jeep.

Squamish RCMP said the river conditions are currently too hazardous to mount an underwater recovery mission.

“The river in this area is exceptionally deep and fast-flowing due to spring runoff,” the detachment said in a news release Monday.

“Police will continue to monitor conditions and reassess recovery efforts as water levels begin to recede and visibility improves.”

Relatives said Sidhu was living in Surrey and working as a drywaller on a work permit from India.

He got married last year. Dhaliwal says his wife is devastated.

He also says the crash has been heartbreaking to their family, as his cousin is an only child.

He says his cousin’s parents are not well off and have done everything they can to give their son a better life.

“They have taken their loans to send this kid into Canada, to have a better life for him, and eventually bring them here and help them. It just turns out, it was not a good place for him,” said Dhaliwal.

He describes his cousin as a very good person, who was kind and helpful.

“He was a hard working person who came here for a better, better life in Canada, but destiny had something else in mind,” said Dhaliwal.

If authorities don’t launch an underwater search soon, Dhaliwal says the family will consider hiring a private dive team.

“We need a body, at least, to have some kind of closure or something to accept it because they mentioned the water is gonna be dropping in August, then the body’s not gonna exist at that point of time,” said Dhaliwal.