On July 14, 2009 at about 0808 hours Park Dispatch notified me at my residence that a possible drowning had occurred in the Swiftcurrent Lake near the Many Glacier Hotel, that rangers were on scene conducting a search and that I was being dispatched to the scene to conduct an investigation.  I drove to the scene arriving at approximately 1011 hours and met with the Incident Commander District ranger who game me a brief summary of what he believed happened.  ranger told me that ranger2 had started the investigation by talking to the Grizzly Security contract security guards who were among the first to respond when the call came in around 0330 hours.

I found ranger2 near the Swiftcurrent Dam and adjoining residence on the Many Glacier Hotel access road.  Ranger2 told me he had just been talking with the primary boat operator (PBO), who was in the dorm.  Ranger2 also told me that according to what he had been able to learn so far PBO and the deceased were among a large group of GPI employees attending a party in the Many Glacier Hotel employee recreation hall.  While attending the party both the PBO and the deceased had been consuming alcoholic beverages.  At about 0300 to 0330 the PBO asked the deceased if he wanted to go for a canoe ride on Swiftcurrent Lake in the PBO’s canoe.  The deceased said yes and they went from the party to the PBO’s residence where the deceased took his wallet and cell phone out of his pockets and left them in the PBO’s room.  The PBO and the deceased then took the PBO’s 14 foot canoe, paddles and two life preservers to Swiftcurrent Lake where they went onto the water without putting on the life preservers on.  Shortly into the paddle they capsized, the PBO made it to shore, and the deceased did not and the two security officers arrived shortly after hearing a commotion on or near the water.

Ranger2 said he and ranger3 had already taken statements from the two security officers and the PBO.  He gave me those statements and they are attached to this report.  Ranger2 and I then went to talk to the PBO at his room in the nearby dorm.  I asked the PBO if he was up to talking and he said yes so I drove him over to the Many Glacier ranger station complex where at 1105 hours I interviewed him in the community room.  Ranger2 was sent to ask GPI management to canvass any dorm rooms where the deceased might be staying if he got out of the water and wasn’t seen.

The PBO related the following description of the incident to me:  About a week before he had gone to Kalispell and bought a canoe.  He has considerable canoeing experience and because of all the lakes in the area wanted one in Montana.  He went to the employee party at the hotel after work and decided after it quit raining that he would like to go on a canoe paddle on Swiftcurrent Lake so he went in search of someone to go with him.  A couple of people said no but he asked the deceased if he wanted to go and he said yes.

The PBO and the deceased went to the PBO’s room where he told him to take anything out of his pockets that he didn’t want to get wet and they took the canoe to the lake.  The PBO said about 5 minutes into their paddle he told the deceased to quit paddling as he wasn’t doing it right.  PBO explained to me that the deceased was constantly paddling too hard on one side or the other and pulling them off course.  PBO said they were about 50 yards from shore when suddenly the boat capsized and he and the deceased were in the water.  The deceased was trying to right the boat but the PBO told him that wasn’t going to happen and that they should swim to shore.  He said they kept calling out to each other by first name and that when he was almost to shore he hit bottom, stood up called for the deceased but he didn’t answer.  He was still calling to the deceased when the security officers arrived to help.  I asked the PBO if he had been drinking and he said yes, he had drunk four beers a
Babb                          