BC

The B.C. Coroners Service has identified a body found washed up on a beach in the southern Gulf Islands as an American man who was reported missing a week earlier.

A pair of beachcombers found a body washed up on Sidney Island on Dec. 19, prompting an investigation that included the RCMP and the FBI.

The coroner says the man has been identified as Brandon Lee Blanford, a 36-year-old from Bremerton, Wash.

Blanford was reported missing by family members in Hansville, Wash., on Dec. 11.

A news release from the B.C. Coroners Service says the agency is currently working with the RCMP and American authorities to investigate the man's death.