A friend of a Kamloops man missing and presumed drowned in the Thompson River is holding out hope he will be found alive, despite Mounties saying they are now searching for a body.

Owen Hanna was last seen late Sunday night after hitting a sandbar while boating near Kamloops Lake with Roxy, his pet Chihuahua, and a friend.

The friend went to shore, eventually hiking to a payphone west of Kamloops to call 911, but 27-year-old Hanna went back into the water to find Roxy.

Intensive search efforts turned up no sign of Hanna or Roxy, and police said Wednesday they were now looking for a body rather than a survivor.

"I don't even want to believe he's gone," said Ashley Pardy, who has known Hanna for about seven years.

"I hate talking about him in the past tense — and it's just hard."

Pardy described Hanna, who had been working as a mechanic, as a fun-loving guy with a great sense of humour.

"He was just a great friend," she said. "He'd give you the shirt off his back.

"Whether it's just going out and hanging out at the mall or going out for drinks, you were always laughing with Owen."

Pardy and her husband, who live in Fort Nelson, met Hanna when he was living in Grande Prairie, Alta.

He moved to Kamloops about three years ago, but never lost touch with his friends up north.

"He always kept in touch," she said.

Pardy, whose cousin survived a similar boating mishap in Newfoundland last year that claimed the life of his two friends, said she automatically assumed the worst when she heard Hanna was missing — but still refuses to believe it.

"Knowing that, and knowing how scary water is, the first thing I thought was that it wasn't good," she said.

"It's not looking promising, but I'm still hopeful."