HELENA – The Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Tuesday afternoon that search crews had recovered the body of a missing diver from Canyon Ferry Lake.
Crews had been searching much of the day Tuesday in the area north of Cemetery Island. LCSO Capt. Kevin Wright said, around 2:30 p.m., they confirmed the location of the man’s body.
The search had started Monday afternoon. Authorities say the diver had been in the water when he suffered an equipment problem. Another man went into the water to help him.
The second diver was eventually brought to shore and taken to the hospital, but crews were not able to locate the first diver on Monday.
The LCSO Water Emergency Team and Lewis and Clark Search and Rescue were back on the water on Tuesday and received assistance from authorities in Flathead County, who brought in a dive team and advanced sonar equipment.
“They were able to coordinate it down to a smaller search area and found his body in the water, where dive teams were able to go down and bring him up,” Wright said.
Tri-Lakes Volunteer Fire Department, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, True North Search Dogs and iFlyBigSky also assisted with the search.
“Thanks to all the volunteers and the hard work of everybody involved, to bring closure for the family,” said Wright.
Wright said the man was from Massachusetts, but the sheriff’s office is not yet ready to release his identity. The case will now be further investigated by the county Coroner’s Division.
