UPDATE: Nothing found in Chin Lakes search and rescue investigation

Search and rescue personnel were at Chin Park, south of Taber, Alta., on Wednesday at the request of RCMP.

The South Eastern Alberta Search and Rescue Association (SEASAR) was called in to help, using its boat on Chin Lakes as part of the operation.

“We didn’t have really good cell coverage down here, so we didn’t have a lot of information other than it was a water-related incident,” said SEASAR President and search operator Paul Carolan.

“They had asked for us to bring our boat and teams to support that, so we knew it was a water incident, but we didn’t know at that time whether it was a suspected drowning, or whether it was a missing person.”

A campground host at Chin Park told Global News he contacted authorities at around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday after spotting what he said looked like a human head on the water, but when he rushed to the shoreline, he said it disappeared.

“It just looked like a human head,” said Gary Bolig, who was sitting facing the water with his wife and another couple.

“It sat there for about three minutes, and then it just went down.”

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Taber RCMP and fire crews arrived for an initial visit Tuesday after Bolig’s call, but with diminishing daylight they chose to wait until the following morning.

“We made the decision to come back out this morning, with the RCMP boat and a with civilian boat and operator,” said Sgt. Gord Yetman.

“We checked the area where that buoy is located out there, checked that area with side-scan sonar and an underwater camera, looking for anything out of the ordinary.”

Yetman said the RCMP didn’t have any reason to believe they were looking for a person.

“We haven’t had any corroborating missing persons reports,” said the officer, “we canvassed the campers in the camping area, nobody is missing, and we did an exhaustive search.”

RCMP found just a piece of black-and-white plastic with frayed ends floating in the water, which Yetman called debris that could have come from a vehicle on the bridge.

Yetman and Carolan said a sweep of the lake with sonar and cameras found nothing else.

An officer said a sweep of the lake with sonar and cameras found nothing else.

Police said there are no reports of any missing persons in the area.

RCMP and SEASAR wrapped up the investigation around 5 p.m. Wednesday night, confident that there was nothing to be found.