TULITA/FORT NORMAN
Family and friends are mourning the death of Eddy John Erutse after his boat capsized on the Mackenzie River outside Tulita earlier this month.

This undated photo shows Eddy John Erutse, 44, in period costume. Erutse, originally from Fort Good Hope died earlier this month when his boat capsized in the Mackenzie River at Tulita. He laves a common-law wife and a three year old daughter. - Photo courtesy of family members

The 44-year-old man's body was pulled from the river not far from Tulita on Sept. 21, two days after the accident.

He wasn't wearing a life jacket when his boat capsized in choppy water on a windy, snowy day in Tulita on Sept. 19, according to an RCMP news release.

He was attempting to bring his boat around a floating dock at the time.

"He was last seen holding on to the boat, however, with poor visibility brought on by blowing rain and snow, police and witnesses quickly lost visual contact," stated RCMP Cst. Elenore Sturko.

Tulita RCMP deployed its boat in a rescue effort but the search was suspended by 10 p.m. that night under adverse weather conditions.

Search efforts resumed this next morning with help from the civil air search and rescue association and continued throughout the day. The body was not located until the next day due to poor weather conditions, according to the RCMP.

RCMP have not released the identity of the victim but family members confirm it is Erutse. He is originally from Fort Good Hope. Erutse had been living in Yellowknife with his common-law wife Phoebe Harris and his three-year-old daughter Angel for the past couple of years, according to his cousin Rose McNeely who lives in Fort Good Hope. She was told he had trailered his boat to the end of the highway in Wrigley and then launched into the Mackenzie River. He was making his way to Fort Good Hope in order to renovate a home that he has there. She thinks he was likely trying to get off the rough water at Tulita when the tragedy occurred.

"He was a really hard worker. He came back to Fort Good Hope every spring and fall to work on his house," McNeely said. "My mom, Eddy's auntie, has taken this very hard."

She said this is not the first tragedy the family has suffered.

"My brother, Wilfred John Kochon, went missing in 1990 in Tulita and we've never found him," McNeely said. "My mom was still very upset about Eddy but was relieved that they at least found his body."

Another cousin, Lisa Kochon, said Erutse often travelled the Mackenzie and was always very helpful and industrious.

"He was a really good man, always working. He was a very kind-hearted man. If I had a flat tire I would call him and he would come right away."

A funeral service for Erutse was scheduled to be held this past Saturday at Our Lady of Fort Good Hope Church.

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