Police in western Quebec are urging the public to obey signs posted at a local quarry after a man died after jumping from a cliff into the water.

David Rothwell, 35, leapt off a cliff more than 20 metres above the water at Morrison's Quarry near Wakefield, Que., at around 5 p.m. on Tuesday. He had been swimming with his eight-year-old daughter and some friends at the time.

The Ottawa father surfaced once and then went below the water again.

An off-duty officer from Montreal, who happened to be nearby, was unable to reach him.

"(He) jumped into a raft and went with diving goggles to see, because the water is really clear, (but) he wasn't able to locate the individual under the water," said Const. Martin Fournel of the MRC des Collines police department.

Prior to his jump, Rothwell had been warned to leave an unauthorized swim area. Despite yells from staff, he and a few of his friends jumped a fence to reach the cliff.

"He was the first man who jumped out of that group, I don't know whether the others were planning to. They were told to get off, the other people did, however that man jumped," said Bryce Morrison-Partridge, whose family owns the quarry.

During the frantic search for her father, Rothwell's daughter went into shock and one of the owners of the quarry guided her away from the area and wrapped her in a blanket.

Fournell said that people should not swim, dive or bungee jump at the quarry, and that there are signs warning of the dangers.

Divers recovered Rothwell’s body 12 metres below the surface on Wednesday morning.

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of death.

Police are trying to determine whether Rothwell and his friends were trying to record their cliff dive and post it on YouTube.

"At this point we can't tell if everything was recorded on smartphone, but that's something we are going to look at," said Fournell.

This isn't the first tragedy to happen at the quarry: 10 years ago a woman died jumping from the cliffs.

Wakefield is located approximately 30 kilometres northwest of Ottawa.

With a report from CTV Ottawa