OPP Underwater Search Unit arrives to aid in search for missing boater in St. Thomas
![Missing boater search - Sept 2024 Derek Niles of Orange Force Marine Ltd. Rides with fire fighters as they search Lake Margaret for a missing boater in St. Thomas, Ont., on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Source: Brent Lale/CTV London)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/9/2/missing-boater-search---sept-2024-1-7022832-1725309842777.jpg)
The OPP Underwater Search and Rescue Unit has arrived in St. Thomas, Ont. to aid in the search for a man who went missing in the water early Monday morning.
St .Thomas Fire Search and Rescue started a search of Lake Margaret around 7:30 a.m.St Thomas Fire Rescue is searching Lake Margaret for a missing boater on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)
“Crews got a call that a canoe had capsized in Lake Margaret,” says Kim Destun, chief fire prevention officer for the St. Thomas Fire Department.
“There were three people in the canoe. Two of them were able to self-rescue and get out. and the other one is currently missing.”A canoe capsized in Lake Margaret in St. Thomas, Ont., on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)
Search crews took turns in the water for a couple of hours before help arrived.
Around 10:30 a.m. Derek Niles of Orange Force Marine Ltd. Brought sonar and underwater equipment.
“We're working with the Saint Thomas Fire Department to be able to locate,” says Niles.
“We're using all tools and all available means, to try to find our missing man.”
Niles uses a laptop in a zodiac boat driven by Fire Fighters.
“It sends a sound signal out and reverberates off strong objects like logs or stuff like that,” says Niles.
“We're watching for a strong echo. Lake Margaret has lots of weeds, logs, partial trees, all kinds of different stuff that's down there. We're getting lots of returns that, that are coming back, so we vector in, teams to go over and investigate those returns.”
Around 3:30 p.m. the OPP USRU team arrived from Gravenhurst Ont. to aid in the search.
Boats are in the water, and the search continues.
The family of the missing man has been notified and victim services has attended their residence today.
Police are now calling this a “recovery mission”.
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