Skip to main content

Officials with a United States law enforcement agency say interagency co-operation is not unusual as they assist the RCMP in investigating the homicides of two British Columbia men on Vancouver Island.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration public information officer Jodie Underwood confirms the organization’s Vancouver office has been asked for assistance in the case involving Ryan Daley and Daniel Archbald.

The bodies of the two men were found near Ucluelet last month, several weeks after they vanished following a sailing trip to Ucluelet from Panama in Archbald’s sailboat.

The men were last seen at the Ucluelet marina on May 16, carrying backpacks and duffel bags off their boat, with the apparent intention of hitchhiking south.

Underwood says there are many levels of assistance available from the drug enforcement agency but she has not been told what has been requested or provided.

RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Janelle Shoihet says in an email that it is not uncommon for police to consult international and domestic partners to move an investigation forward.

The Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit says the deaths of Daley, 43, and Archbald, 37, are homicide, and Shoihet says the unit is “committed to providing an update as soon as one is appropriate and available.”

The unit confirmed June 29 that the bodies had been found.

A news release issued at that time said positively identifying the men was a significant step in the investigation and officers could now focus on finding who killed them.

Archbald’s wife Leah Bliss has said her husband bought his boat in Panama about two years ago and was sailing it back to B.C. to start a sailing charter business. She said Archbald was an experienced sailor and the voyage a dream adventure for him.

Interact with The Globe