The body of a 67-year-old man who went missing overnight has been recovered from the water near Beckwith Island in Georgian Bay, police say.
Ontario Provincial Police and personnel from the Canadian Forces Base at Trenton were involved in an overnight water and air search for the man after he was reported missing at 12:35 a.m. on Sunday.
Police said the man had moored his vessel on the west side of Beckwith Island and used an orange inflatable to retrieve a kayak and paddle board that had come loose.
Officers recovered a kayak, paddle board and orange inflatable with no sign of the missing man, whom police said was not wearing a life-jacket when he was last seen.
At around 7 a.m., a Canadian Forces Search and Rescue helicopter pilot sighted a body, which was removed from the water by an OPP boat, police said. Officers confirmed it was the body of the missing man.
Marine officers from the Southern Georgian Bay Detachment were involved in the search, along with a Griffon search and rescue helicopter and a Hercules fixed wing search and rescue aircraft from CFB Trenton’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre. An Indian Maiden ferry of the Beausoleil First Nation was also involved.
The search could be seen in the early hours of Sunday morning from land, with flares regularly lighting up the sky and the sound of helicopter activity above Georgian Bay. The water was calm during the day on Saturday – but winds grew fiercer through the late afternoon.
“Family and officers involved in the search wish to thank those in the marine community who assisted in this very tragic marine incident,” police said.
— with files from Global News’ Matthew Bingley and The Canadian Press