Search moves into day six for young Surrey man last seen at Cultus Lake

The family of a young man from Surrey is looking for answers after Mounties received reports he failed to resurface from Cultus Lake nearly a week ago.

At around 5:15 pm July 19, Chilliwack RCMP received a report that a young man “had entered the water, reportedly to rescue a friend,” but had not resurfaced.

“A nearby boater was alerted by the sounds of people in distress, and he attended the area to bring the others to safety before diving into the water himself in an attempt to locate Mr. Singh,” RCMP added.

Family and friends identified the young man as 22-year-old Ajay Singh over the weekend. The RCMP has since confirmed his identity as well, saying Singh was last seen in Cultus Lake waters in the Main Beach area off a public dock near Fir Street.

According to friends and family, the Surrey resident was in the area with two friends.

Officers said Cultus Lake Fire Department searched for Singh by boat the evening he was reported missing, but was not able to locate him.

RCMP Underwater Recovery Team, Search and Rescue, and Chilliwack RCMP’s Seasonal Policing Section have also been part of search efforts.

Despite hours of searching, RCMP has not been able to locate Singh. It’s now been six days since he was last seen.

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Vijay Singh said that his brother knows how to swim and told Daily Hive he is skeptical and has more questions about what happened and that the notion he drowned is unbelievable.

Vijay said Singh last spoke to his mom less than two hours before he was believed to have drowned.

Vijay added this incident was out of character for Singh and said, “I still don’t believe it. I don’t think he’s dead.”

“If we see him, that would be a closure,” he said.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ajay’s family and friends during this extremely difficult time,” Sergeant Krista Vrolyk, media spokesperson for the Chilliwack RCMP, said. “We know that you will not rest until you have answers. It is important that you know that our file remains active, and we will continue to dedicate resources in efforts to locate Ajay so that you have those answers.”

A search by Chilliwack RCMP’s Seasonal Policing Section will continue into today and RCMP’s Underwater Recovery Team is expected to return Tuesday to resume dive efforts.

Cultus Lake has a very deep drop-off and has been the site of several fatal incidents in recent years — however — many of those who drowned were non-swimmers unaware of the risks.