A 28-year-old man and 27-year-old woman believed to have drowned were found on the northeastern shores of Pigeon Lake on Friday afternoon, according to RCMP.
Thorsby RCMP was called to the shoreline of Silver Beach near Mulhurst Bay around 1:10 p.m., where they found the woman. She was declared dead on scene.
After a search that involved boat and helicopter assistance, a man was found dead along the same shoreline. RCMP said a kayak was found a short distance away.
“At this point in our investigation we believe it to be accidental,” Cst. Chantelle Kelly said Saturday. “At this point it appears to be non-suspicious, non-criminal. But again, autopsies will have to be completed, an investigation will have to be completed in its entirety before we can make that determination.
Kelly added witnesses have said that the pair were seen at 6 a.m. Friday morning with one kayak and there were rough waters that day.
RCMP said the pair had been living in Edmonton.
An investigation into their deaths is ongoing, but RCMP said in a news release Saturday that it was a possible drowning.
Officials are looking to determine if anyone else was involved in the incident, police said Saturday.
Thorsby RCMP received assistance from Wetaskiwin RCMP’s police boat, Mulhurst Bay and South Pigeon Lake fire departments, as well as EPS Air 1 and STARS helicopters as part of the search.
Pigeon Lake is located about 100 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.
Deadly summer on the water
These two new fatalities mark at least the eighth and ninth drowning-related deaths in Alberta this summer.
Three teenage girls died in June after a canoeing incident in southern Alberta’s St. Mary River near Spring Coulee.
On Saturday, July 26, a man went missing and was presumed drowned in the North Saskatchewan River near Banff.
On Tuesday, July 28, a 20-year-old man was found dead after a presumed drowning in Stafford Lake near Lethbridge.
On Sunday, Aug. 2, a 53-year-old man drowned in the North Saskatchewan River near Devon.
Then on Aug. 3, a 39-year-old man was pronounced dead at Annette Lake in Jasper National Park after reports of a drowning.
There have also been several Albertans who have lost their lives in drowning incidents in B.C. this summer.
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