Photo: Rithik Garg
International student Jatin Garg, 27, who was studying supply chain management at TRU, went underwater and did not resurface last Sunday when he went into the Thompson River at Overlander Park to recover a volleyball.
The family a Thompson Rivers University student who was swept away from a North Kamloops beach is distraught and desperate for information while awaiting word half a world away.
International student Jatin Garg, 27, from Mansa, a city of about 85,000 people in Punjab, India, has been identified by relatives to Castanet as the man who went missing in the Thompson River on Sunday.
“I think it can’t be expressed in words,” Rithik Garg, Jatin’s cousin, said when asked about the family’s reaction after learning of his disappearance.
Rithik said Jatin was the eldest of two siblings and unmarried. His family members are devastated.
“The family is very much terrified from that incident,” Rithik said from India.
Rithik said Jatin was the first person in the family to travel abroad. He enrolled at TRU to study supply chain management.
Jatin had been in Kamloops for less than a year, having arrived last August from India. He was described as a hard worker who needed no help from his family.
Rithik said his cousin was a smart man who came to Canada to study and “get exposure and build a good life for him and his family.”
Police divers are done
Emergency crews were called to Overlander Park, near the north end of the Overlanders Bridge, at about 5:15 p.m. on Sunday for a report of a possible drowning.
Investigators believe Jatin went into the river to retrieve a volleyball and got sucked into the undercurrent.
Two of his friends went to try to help and they got stuck, too. The two friends managed to get back to shore but Jatin did not.
Using boats, drones and divers, police and Kamloops Search and Rescue crews spent days searching the river for any sign of Jatin. On Friday, Mounties told Castanet an RCMP dive team had completed its tasks and no body was located.
“Should their services be required again they remain available to assist,” RCMP Cpl. Dana Napier said. “At this time, there are no further updates related to this investigation.”
Family feels in the dark
Rithik said the family learned what happened to Jatin from his roommates on Sunday evening, which was Monday morning for them in India.
According to Dharam Pal Garg, Jatin’s father, the friends said they were playing volleyball on the beach when the ball went into the water. Jatin went to retrieve it and he fell in.
Rithik said the family is desperate for information. He said they’ve heard from police via email, but they want more information.
The family has been following Kamloops news coverage from India. Rithik said TRU reached out to offer condolences and assistance.
Dharam Pal said the family will travel to Kamloops to retrieve Jatin’s body once it is located.
“We are suffering very much and we have no response from any agency,” Dharam Pal said.
Rithik said Jatin’s family has applied for passports and TRU has offered assistance securing visas.
He said he hopes to hear more soon from Mounties about their search for Jatin.
“I just want to know the next procedure of the police so that it might be helpful to us to know and settle down a bit,” he said.
“We don’t know the police there, so it’s very difficult for us to identify how things are going.”
Photo: Michael Potestio
An RCMP Zodiac patrols the river shore where 27-year-old Jatin Garg went missing in the Thompson River on July 6.