A women’s body has been found along the banks of the Grand River in Kitchener, according to Waterloo regional police, but they could not say whether it was one of two women who were seen in distress on the river over the weekend.
“The Ontario Provincial Police helicopter was conducting aerial search and located what they believed to be a body in the river,” Const. Chris Iden told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.
He noted that the body was located near Old Mill Road and Pinnacle Drive.
“Emergency services on the ground responded to the area and located and confirmed the body of that was a deceased female,” Iden said.
Police said that they are awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination to determine whether the woman was one of two boaters who went missing over the weekend while boating on the Grand River.
Insp. Matt Halliday said that with the search now a few days old, police are not expecting to find the two women alive at this point.
“Given the duration of the search and length of time the two females have been missing, we are treating this as a recovery effort,” he told reporters.
The two women were reported in distress on the Grand River near King Street and River Road on Saturday at 9:30 p.m.
“A witness described seeing the two individuals going over the dam (in Hidden Valley) and calling him for help,” Iden said. “The witness did not see the two boaters resurface.”
He said that as soon as emergency personnel arrived, they could see there was trouble with the water.
“Upon arrival, emergency services observed treacherous water conditions and believed to be a contributing factor in this incident,” he said.
Police had not previously said what type of vehicle they were boating in.
“We can now say that we believe the two females entered the water on a side-by-side personal flotation device,” Halliday said.
The inspector said that the witness to the incident saw the device churning in the water deflated near the dam in the Hidden Valley area of Kitchener after the two women called for help.
Police and firefighters continue to search the area around the dam but on Tuesday they said the area of the river they were investigating went all the way down to the Parkhill Dam in Cambridge.
The officers were speaking at a press conference on Tuesday in Riverbluffs Park in Cambridge in front of the Grand River.
This was the site where Cambridge firefighters were entering into the river in an airboat on Tuesday morning as they continued to aid in the search.
“We’ve been actively searching in the river from the Parkhill Dam all the way up to the Freeport area,” Cambridge Fire Chief Rob Martin said. “Obviously, with the river being extremely high, a lot of debris in the river, they’re taking their time and being meticulous with their search.”
He said that the torrential storms the area has experienced over the past couple of days has forced the boat out of the water on occasion.
The fire chief noted that they have stuck to conducting their searches by boat during the daytime hours.
“It’s not necessarily an effective search through the the darker hours,” Martin said. “And obviously with the level of the water level and the amount of debris that’s in the water, it also minimizes the risk.”
Emergency personnel continue to ask people to stay away from the river as they conduct their search efforts.