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Teen drowns 15-year-old's body recovered after more than 12 hours of searching
Chris Puglia
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 9, 2013
LLI GOLINE/NORMAN WELLS
A teenage boy is dead after a late night canoeing mishap on Jackfish Lake near Norman Wells ended in tragedy on Friday night.
Search boats converge at the location where the body of a teenage boy who drowned in Jackfish Lake near Norman Wells was discovered after a canoeing mishap on Friday night. - Chris Puglia/NNSL photo |
RCMP spokesperson Barry Ledoux stated in a news release that police and volunteer firefighters responded to a call at 11 p.m. after a canoe tipped over on the lake.
Two boys were in the canoe when it went over. One was able to swim to shore while the other boy, a 15-year-old, drowned.
The boy who drowned, according to sources in the community, was originally from Inuvik and had only moved to Norman Wells with his family less than a month ago.
A search for the missing boy began at approximately 11:30 p.m. Friday. Firefighters used boats and underwater sonar while being assisted by a helicopter equipped with thermal imaging to look for the body, according to John Greathead, the search co-ordinator who was on scene Saturday.
Greathead said searchers were on the water until 5 a.m. Saturday. After taking a break to regroup, volunteers and first responders resumed the search at 9 a.m. Saturday. Fifteen community members volunteered to assist in the search using five boats, he said.
At around 1 p.m. Saturday, the body was discovered near the middle of the lake, submerged in 12 feet of water. After a brief wait for equipment, firefighters and volunteers were able to recover the body. The canoe was discovered farther down shore where it had drifted.
The body has been sent to Edmonton for autopsy.
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