Bodies of missing West Kootenay teens found in reservoir

The bodies of two missing West Kootenay, B.C., teen siblings have been found by an RCMP dive team.

The Fruitvale brother and sister, aged 15 and 18, were passengers in a Volkswagen Beetle that plunged into the Pend d'Oreille Reservoir near Trail on Sunday.

"The conditions were difficult and the recovery operation took a significant amount of time to complete," said Sgt. Chad Badry of the West Kootenay RCMP Traffic Services.

The vehicle's 18-year-old driver from Salmo and another 15-year-old from Warfield, who was riding in the front passenger seat, managed to free themselves after the car went off the winding Seven Mile Dam Road and down an embankment.

Police said the driver was taken to hospital and released, and the passenger remains in hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Badry says the recovery effort was helped by BC Hydro lowering the water level in the reservoir.

The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating and the RCMP is asking anyone who witnessed the vehicle before the crash, witnessed the crash or saw the group of teens before the crash to contact West Kootenay Traffic Services at 250-354-5180.