Body of Raveshan Pillay found weeks after disappearance in Tofino whale-watching tragedy

A body found near Vargas Island, B.C., yesterday has been identified as that of 27-year-old Raveshan Morgan Pillay, an Australian tourist missing since last month's fatal whale-watching tragedy off the coast of Tofino.

Twenty-seven people were on board the MV Leviathan II when it sank on Oct. 25off the west coast of Vancouver Island. Five people all British citizens, including one resident of B.C. and another of Ontario died.

Twenty-one people were plucked from the water by locals who responded to a flare and radio calls.

Pillay was the only person on the boat not accounted for in the search-and-rescue effort.

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Divers searched for Pillay for several days, at times having to call off their search due tothree- to four-metre swells.

Pillay's bodywasfound by a group of surfers who reported spotting a body on the beach atVargasIsland in the early evening of Nov. 18.

The investigation into what happened to the boatis ongoing, and is being handled jointly by the Transportation Safety Board (TSB), the RCMPand the BC Coroners Service.

The full report into the investigation is not expected for some time, but Marc-Andr Poisson, the TSB's director of marine investigations, has said that the passengers appeared to have all been on one side of the boat's upper deck when a wave hit.

"This would have raised the centre of gravity, affecting the vessel's stability," Poisson told reporters on Oct. 27.

He said the vessel then rolledand capsized.

"None of this preliminary information should be used in isolation to draw any conclusions at this point," he said at the time.