The Prince George RCMP have not made any conclusions about what happened that led to two deaths early Sunday morning at Kwitzil Lake, said the detachment's media spokesperson Tuesday.
"Under no circumstances would we talk to family, friends or the media about speculation," said Cpl. Craig Douglass.
According to a statement prepared by the family of drowning victim Craig Wood, police had given them a preliminary account of what happened to the 19-year-old and his 17-year-old prom date and D.P. Todd secondary student Kendall Moore.
"What we understand so far... [Wood and Moore] were both inside the vehicle, apparently sleeping, when the vehicle began a slow roll towards the lake," the statement said.
But the RCMP are not saying one way or another how the 1994 two-door GMC Jimmy ended up in the water (more commonly known as Gravel Pit Lake) shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday until there's evidence to support it, Douglass said.
"At no time did we say that these two individuals were lying asleep in the vehicle and the vehicle somehow rolled into the water," he said. "Until we have confirmed proof that happened, you're not going to hear that from us. And likewise, if the evidence led to something else, again we wouldn't say that either."
On Tuesday, the RCMP warned against putting too much stock in rumours and speculation as the investigation into the two deaths goes on, but said the force's Serious Crimes section and BC Coroners Service aren't ruling anything out.
"We can't just shrug them off as being rumour; we need to make sure they're rumour and we're not omitting the possibility they are factual," said Douglass.
Social media and smartphones can both help and hurt investigations, he added.
Police are still looking to speak to anyone who may have witnessed Sunday morning's incident, spoke to either Wood or Moore in the early morning hours or has photos or videos by contacting the Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300.
In the age of social media, however, there's no way to get ahead of bad news on the Internet, said Douglass.
According to Trish Howard, Wood's aunt, the family was piecing the bad news together from Facebook posts.
Douglass said the RCMP took "a bit of a risk" and on Sunday morning let the families know there was a good chance their relatives were in the vehicle before it was recovered from the lake because of "overwhelming information those two people were in there."
But, speaking hypothetically, he said it wouldn't be acceptable behaviour for a professional police force to contact the families with the bad news only to find out the situation was not as it seemed later on.
A mechanical and other forensic exams will be performed on the vehicle. Post-mortem testing - including toxicology tests - are planned for both of the deceased.
"There's just a ton of info we have to get and basically dissect it all, determine what's most likely to have happened or conclusively know what happened and then, at that point, we can let the public know if enforcement action needs to be taken, if preventative action needs to be taken."
Events like Saturday night's party are almost a rite of passage at grad time, said Douglass, but he said the RCMP doesn't condone them as they are illegal activity.
"We, unfortunately, cannot be everywhere all the time and we can't monitor who's going to one place or another. The fact of the matter is if we were there as they were pulling up, they would go somewhere else," Douglass said. "We can't prevent them from doing that."
School District 57 superintendent Brian Pepper has said the party was not a school or parent-sponsored event, though Douglass said he understood there were some adults present.
"These things - whether anybody gets hurt at them or not - they're not safe," he said. "The potential for something to happen goes up exponentially at these types of events."
