The body retrieved from the Ottawa River on Saturday was that of the 30-year-old woman who went missing after falling out of her kayak last week, a Wednesday (Sept. 25) press release from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has confirmed.
The OPP are not releasing the woman’s name.
Her body was found in the Ottawa River east of Pembroke on Saturday, according to a press release from the OPP. This came after a multi-day search for a kayaker who was missing since the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 18.
That morning around 5 a.m., OPP in the Upper Ottawa Valley received a report of a male in distress in the water. According to a press release on Thursday, the 34-year-old male was rescued from the water by police with help from private citizens.
The man who was rescued informed police that he had been in a kayak with a 30-year-old woman when the vessel capsized in rapids east, or downstream, of the Highway 148 interprovincial bridge from Allumette Island to Ontario. According to the OPP, neither individuals in the kayak were wearing a personal floatation device.
The search, which began Wednesday, was conducted by the OPP’s Underwater Search and Recovery Unit (USRU) and the Sûreté du Québec’s (SQ) marine unit. The Saturday press release states that a body was located on Saturday around 1 p.m..
OPP media relations officer Shawn Peer said the body was found downstream of the rapids where the kayaker flipped.
At this time, the OPP cannot confirm the identity of the body discovered. An autopsy will be conducted to confirm the cause of death. At this time, the suspected cause of death is drowning.
*This article was updated on Sept. 25, 2024.
