Port Stanley man identified as missing canoeist pulled from Lake Margaret in St. Thomas, Ont.

A nearly 12-hour search for a missing canoeist in St. Thomas has ended tragically.

The body of 26-year old Ryan Davies of Port Stanley, Ont. was recovered by at the bottom of the man-made lake by the OPP Underwater Search and Rescue Unit (USRU) Monday evening.

Monday morning, St.Thomas Fire Search and Rescue started a search of Lake Margaret around 7:30 a.m.

“Crews got a call that a canoe had capsized in Lake Margaret,” said 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.”

The two other individuals were taken to hospital but are going to be “OK,” according to St. Thomas Fire Chief Dave Gregory.

Missing boaterSearch crews took turns in the water for a couple of hours before help arrived.

St Thomas Fire Rescue is searching Lake Margaret for a missing boater on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) Around 10:30 a.m., Derek Niles of Orange Force Marine Ltd. brought sonar and underwater equipment.

“We're working with the St. Thomas Fire Department to be able to locate,” said 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 firefighters.

“It sends a sound signal out and reverberates off strong objects like logs or stuff like that,” said 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.”

A canoe capsized in Lake Margaret in St. Thomas, Ont., on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) They specifically focused on an area in the lake near where the canoe capsized, and in a place where they found a bag and a pair of fishing poles in the water.

Around 3:30 p.m., the OPP USRU team arrived from Gravenhurst, Ont. to aid in the search.

After a two-hour search, at 6:40 p.m., Davie’s body was pulled from the water.

“Tragic day in our community for sure,” said Samantha Wakefield of the St. Thomas Police Service. “With the assistance of the OPP Underwater Search and Rescue Unit, the St. Thomas Police Service located and recovered our missing person.”

Victim Services were with the Davies’ family throughout the day and after the body was recovered.

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)