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Body of missing boater recovered

OPP News Release *********************** KILLARNEY - The search for the missing boater near Spoon Lake has ended with the recovery of the body of 62-year-old Jim WAKEGIJIG of Wikwemikong First Nation.
OPP News Release

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KILLARNEY - The search for the missing boater near Spoon Lake has ended with the recovery of the body of 62-year-old Jim WAKEGIJIG of Wikwemikong First Nation.

Volunteer searchers located the body shortly after noon on October 8th, they had been searching since September 30th along with OPP officers, the OPP Helicopter unit and officers from the Wikwemikong Tribal Police and the United Chiefs and Council of Manitoulin (UCCM) Police Service.

A post mortem is scheduled for next week, foul play is not suspected.

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The search for the missing boater continued over the weekend without success.

Sometime after 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 30, 2010, two men launched their boat at the Wolf Creek public launch and headed out to their camp on Spoon Lake in Kilpatrick Township Northeast of Killarney. As they were entering Spoon Lake, the man sitting at the bow of the boat noticed his friend had fallen into the water. The missing boater is identified as 62-year-old Jim WAKEGIJIG of Wikwemikong First Nation.

Officers with the Noelville OPP Marine Unit attended the scene to conduct a search on the water with the assistance of the OPP Snowmobile, All Terrain and Vessel Enforcement (S.A.V.E.) Unit, the OPP Helicopter Unit, Underwater Search & Recovery Unit (USRU), and Emergency Response Team (ERT).

Members of the Wikwemikong Tribal Police, and the United Chiefs and Council of Manitoulin (UCCM) Police Services also attended the scene to assist in the search.

At this point the OPP ERT and USRU have exhausted their avenues to search. The OPP Marine and Helicopter Units will continue to provide periodic shoreline searches for WAKEGIJIG.

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KILLARNEY - On September 30, 2010 at 6:50 p.m., officers from the Noelville Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Detachment received a report of a missing man who fell out of his vessel at the narrows of Wolf Creek & Spoon Lake, Kilpatrick Township (south of Killarney).

Preliminary investigation reveals that sometime after 1:00 p.m. on September 30, 2010, the two men launched their boat at the Wolf Creek public launch and headed out to their camp on Spoon Lake. As they were entering Spoon Lake, the man sitting at the bow of the boat noticed his friend had fallen into the water. The missing boater is identified as 62-year-old Jim WAKEGIJIG of Wikwemikong First Nation.

Officers with the OPP Marine Unit attended the scene to conduct a search on the water which is continuing with the assistance of the OPP Snowmobile, All Terrain and Vessel Enforcement (S.A.V.E.) Team.

The OPP helicopter and Underwater Search & Recovery Unit have been dispatched to attend the scene to assist with the search.

The investigation is continuing.

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