Bachelor party turns tragic
Horror at Whitefish Lake<br>Divers searched Whitefish Lake Friday for a 26-year-old Canadian man who presumably drowned after the canoe he was in capsized. Chandler Melton/Whitefish Pilos
A bachelor party on Whitefish Lake turned tragic Friday when one man presumably drowned.
Divers searched the lake Friday afternoon for a 26-year-old Canadian man. He was in a canoe that capsized on the north side of the lake near Les Mason Park.
He was one of nine visitors who had rented a house on the lake for the party, according to Lt. Dave Leib of Flathead County Sheriff's Office.
Two of the men were in the canoe when it tipped, Leib said. Two friends on shore jumped onto some boards and paddled out to try to rescue the men in the water. They were able to save one man, but the other vanished.
Someone housesitting a home nearby on Plaza Road heard the men screaming and called for help after the vessel tipped.
The Flathead County Dive team, Whitefish Police and Fire Department, and the Flathead County Sheriff's Office responded.
All three men were taken to North Valley Hospital.
Leib believes they were treated and released quickly because they were not in critical condition.
Dive team commander Jordan White said six divers searched depths of about 115 feet Friday. Water clarity is good and visibility is about 20 feet, but darkness at that depth requires divers to use lights to see anything, he said.
The water temperature was 37 degrees, he added.
The missing man is thought to be in water 120 to 130 feet deep. The divers' depth limit is 130 feet, White said.
As the search wore on into the evening, two of the men sat on the beach, giving rescuers an idea of where they should look. Boats patrolled the area, about 100 yards out, until darkness halted their search for the night.
Divers planned to return this morning with side-scanning sonar to try to recover the body of the man.
The identity of the man was not released Friday. Leib said he is from Lethbridge, Alberta.