UPDATE: Search and rescue no longer involved in hunt for missing firefighter

An exhaustive search of Okanagan Lake has come to an end for one of the groups involved without finding the body of a missing and presumed drowned Kamloops firefighter.

Volunteers with Central Okanagan Search and Rescue (COSAR) were stood down by RCMP Tuesday (May 25) after nine days of looking for 53-year-old Brian Lannon. Lannon went missing May 15 after failing to resurface while recreational diving near the Bennett Bridge by City Park in Kelowna.

“COSAR members volunteered more than 500 hours working alongside the RCMP dive team, who used the COSAR landing craft, The Sweatman, as a diving platform,” a news release from COSAR stated.

RCMP, however, say the search is not concluded at this time.

“The West Kelowna RCMP and Underwater Recovery Team will continue efforts to locate the missing diver. The search may not occur on a daily basis, however efforts will not be concluded until the diver is located,” the RCMP told Vernon Matters.

Search for missing man in Okanagan Lake in Kelowna. (Submitted photo/COSAR)