Has ImageCraig Moore/ Daily Inter Lake

Emergency responders illuminate Upper McDonald Creek with generator-powered lights Monday night just below McDonald Falls in Glacier National Park to aid in the recovery of a missing man. Flathead County dive-team members can been seen in the bottom right preparing to enter the icy water below the platform pullout on Upper McDonald Creek, just off the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Divers recover man's body from McDonald Falls

A man's body was recovered from a deep pool Monday evening below McDonald Falls in Glacier National Park, several hours after he fell into the icy water upstream.

By JIM MANN and CRAIG MOORE

The Daily Inter Lake

A man's body was recovered from a deep pool Monday evening below McDonald Falls in Glacier National Park, several hours after he fell into the icy water upstream.

Glacier National Park officials did not release the man's name or hometown, pending notification of relatives, but said he was in his early 40s.

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office got a request for a dive team from the park at 3:51 p.m., and the man's body was recovered at about 6:45 p.m.

Patrick Suddath, the West Lakes District Ranger and incident commander at the scene, said the man was with three other people at the platform pullout on Upper McDonald Creek, just off Going-to-the-Sun Road.

"It's my understanding that the victim was not within the platform area" when he apparently slipped into the water, Suddath said.

He said the man was swept through cascading falls below the platform.

Jordan White, a Flathead County deputy and county dive-team leader, said five divers responded, along with a search dog and handlers that were used to sweep the area downstream from the falls.

Using a park fire truck as an anchor for ropes, they repelled down a steep, icy face above the creek. Four divers entered the water, while the fifth stayed ashore as a safety officer.

White said the creek made a "sharp drop-off" into the deep hole "with fast-moving water" and reduced visibility. But the divers located the victim's body within 10 minutes of entering the water, he said.

"The victim was recovered in 21 feet of water in swift current," White said. "He was being held down by the force of the water."

After being recovered from the water, the victim was lifted out back to the roadside by six people with the help of ropes. Two women were crying nearby at the time.

Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in Glacier National Park.