Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, July 17, 2008

ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD - Residents of Fort Liard are reeling after two fatal accidents occurred within days of each other.

As of July 15, a search for a missing boater has turned into a recovery operation.

The search started July 13 after Jim Paul Klondike went missing from a boat on the Liard River near Blackstone Territorial Park. Nearby boaters began a search after they believed he fell from his boat. When they didn't find him they contacted RCMP, said Sgt. Larry O'Brien with the G Division in Yellowknife.

Members of the Fort Liard RCMP recovered Klondike's boat and co-ordinated the following search and were joined on Monday by members of the Fort Simpson RCMP detachment along with members of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources joined the search effort, O'Brien said. A search by helicopter was also being planned.

Klondike, originally from Liard, has been living in Nahanni Butte.

The boating accident came just three days after Kenny Timbre died in a motor vehicle accident on July 10.

The crash occurred 27 km south of Fort Liard just north of the border between the Northwest Territories and British Columbia.

Timbre was one of three people in the vehicle. One individual was medivaced to Yellowknife where he was still in the hospital as of July 15. A third individual was able to walk away from the accident.

The cause of the accident hasn't been determined. RCMP collision analysts were sent to the scene to assess the accident, O'Brien said.

"They have to do some studying," he said.

The proximity of the two fatal accidents has been hard on Fort Liard, said Chief Steven Kotchea.

"The community is in mourning," Kotchea said. "Everyone was getting over the death in the car crash and then it happened again."

More than 15 community members are taking part in the search efforts on the Liard River. The band has been supporting the search by supplying fuel and groceries, said Kotchea.