Victim was an experienced canoer with over 30 years of experience going on trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). He had come to the BWCA with a friend on 5/12/2023. They were at campsite 469 (coordinates 48 08 43.4 N, 90 55 50.3 W). On Sunday, 5/14/2023, he opted to go on a solo fishing trip. He was last known to be heading in the direction of the Trails End Campground. His friend had last spoken to him at 1400 hrs that day. The last ping his friend picked up on his phone was at 1719 hrs on the same day.

The initial call reporting the man missing was on 5/14/2023 at approximately 2324 hrs. County Dispatch contacted County Search and Rescue, who determined that the search would need to begin in the morning when there was some daylight due to the topography and type of area they would be searching.

At approximately 0600 hours on 5/15, a plane began searching the area while the rest of the S&R team met at a rally point. While this was happening, the victim's friend went out in his own canoe to assist in looking for the man.

At approximately 0742 hrs, the county was advised the search would become a recovery as the missing person had been found to be deceased. The friend had found him floating in the water. He stayed with the man's body until the plane flew over their location and gathered the coordinates (48.150362, -090.898540). The S&R group brought a boat to the site to bring the man back to shore (he was eventually brought to the second landing at the Trails End campground).

The man's body was found approximately a half mile from his overturned canoe. The water in the area has rocks in it and the water temperature was approximated to be in the low 40 degrees. He was wearing an orange type 3 life jacket. He had a 1" cut on the top right side of his head.

There was no damage to the canoe. Alcohol was not a factor.
Seagull
Grand Marais                  