HALIFAX – RCMP in Cape Breton have located the body of a 14-year-old boy, who went missing after a boat capsized in Ingonish harbour over the weekend.
RCMP had been searching for Gregory Hibbs, of Glace Bay since early Saturday, when a wooden rowboat he was in flipped over about 300 metres away from land.
Hibbs was in the boat with four other teens, all of whom swam safely to shore, when the the boat capsized.
None of the teens were wearing life jackets at the time of the accident.
RCMP Const. Brad Anderson confirmed the teen’s body was recovered on Wednesday, a day after a police located two objects in the watar using side-scan sonar.
He explained the recovery team was able to positively identify the boat on Tuesday, but it was getting too dark for divers to attempt to identify the body. The team marked the location using GPS and returned to the site today.
“At about 11:20 a.m. the underwater recovery team located the body of Gregory Hibss,” Anderson said.
He said Hibbs’ body was pulled from a depth of 18 metres, about 45 metres away from where the boat was located and about 700 metres from where the teens had set out from land.
Anderson said Hibbs father was on the scene Wednesday and positively identified his son’s body when it was brought to shore.
Hibbs attended the Southside Learning Centre in Sydney.
Principal Danielle AuCoin described Hibbs as a good kid who got along well with others.
*With files from The Canadian Press
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