Man presumed dead in B.C. mudslide identified

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Victoria — A British Columbia man who was in the midst of moving to Vancouver Island when he was swept away by a mudslide last week has been identified.

Family members say Brett Diederichs was caught in a landslide just outside of Pemberton, B.C., on Nov. 15.

Diederichs was travelling with his partner and mother who were in the process of moving from Peachland, B.C., to Victoria.

His partner and mom made it out of the landslide unharmed, according to a GoFundMe campaign set up by family, but Diederichs was lost in the mudslide on Duffey Lake Road near Lillooet, B.C.

Donations to the GoFundMe campaign will go towards end-of-life celebrations and to his partner.

"While my family is reeling from this tragedy we are hoping we can make this time a little bit easier by helping out the love of his life, Madison, to set up their dream of living on Vancouver Island, and to cover the unexpected end of life costs that will be incurred," said his sister in a social media post Monday. "Anything will help."

Police have not identified Diederichs by name but have confirmed a 36-year-old Peachland resident was among the victims.

Four people are confirmed to have died in a mudslide on Highway 99 near Lillooet.

On Saturday, RCMP said that the bodies of three men were discovered in the landslide, and that efforts were still underway to find one more person who was reported missing during the storm.

Searches of the area were carried out last week by teams from Pemberton and Lillooet. However, search efforts were paused over the weekend due to weather, and officials said they would resume once conditions improved.

With files from Andrew Weichel, CTV News Vancouver