Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Fort Smith (Sep 26/05) - The body of an Inuvik teenager has been recovered from the Slave River two weeks after he fell into the treacherous Rapids of the Drowned at Fort Smith.

The remains of Ian Joel Rogers, 19, were found at 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 21 near Sawmill Island, about 16 km north of Fort Smith.

Rogers fell into the river on Sept. 5 only a few days after arriving in town to started courses at Aurora College.

Sgt. Craig Seafoot of the Fort Smith RCMP said the body was discovered floating in the river by a Fort Smith man, who didn't want to be identified.

Seafoot said the man tied a rope to the body and secured it to the riverbank, and then went to a telephone and called the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The department contacted the police, and they jointly recovered the body at 12:45 p.m. on Sept. 21.

There was no autopsy and the body was returned to the family.

"Death was deemed accidental," Seafoot says.

An organized search of the river after Rogers disappeared failed to find the body.

The official RCMP search was called off Sept. 9.

However, a community search continued until Sept. 12 with assistance from the RCMP, which paid for gas for the private boats involved.

The police also paid for an air search until Sept. 12.

Seafoot said it was expected the body would eventually be found, even after the organized search ended.

Fort Smith fishermen and hunters were watching for the body as they travelled on the river, he said, adding, "they're the ones that were keeping an eye out for it."

The sergeant also praised the efforts of Fort Smith residents in helping with the organized search. "The community came through with flying colours."

The victim's father, Lawrence Rogers, did not wish to discuss the recovery of his son's body, saying the family was going through a tough time.

He didn't say when the funeral would be held.

Rogers was in Fort Smith to begin a technology program at Aurora College when he fell off a rocky outcrop just below the Rapids of the Drowned.

Two friends were with Rogers at the time.

One jumped into the river in an unsuccessful attempt to save him.