Body found in reservoir

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a Kalispell man whose body was found Monday morning after a search in the Graves Bay area on Hungry Horse Reservoir.

Sheriff Mike Meehan said a man called Sunday at about 1 p.m. to report that another man with whom he had been camping was missing.

North Valley Search and Rescue was dispatched to the Graves Bay area about 37 miles south of Hungry Horse Dam. The subsequent search involved interviews with campers and boats patrolling shoreline.

On Monday morning, a dive  team was sent to the area where the man was last seen at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, a rocky ledge that was nearly flush with the waterline along the Graves Bay shoreline.

“We had reason to believe he could possibly be in the water,” Meehan said.

The man’s body was located in about 21 feet of water just off the ledge.

“The divers were in the water for about five minutes and went right to him,” Meehan said. “He was not far from where he was last seen.”

Meehan noted that it took time for the victim’s fellow camper to realize he was missing and report it. The camper woke up around 9 a.m. Sunday, did a rough search in the area and wasn’t able to get cellular-phone service to make the report until about 1 p.m. Sunday.

Meehan said there are reasons to suspect the victim may have been intoxicated, but that won’t be confirmed until an autopsy is conducted at the State Crime Lab in Missoula.

It appears to be a drowning, but the autopsy is necessary, Meehan said.

“I want to verify that he was not dead prior to entering the water,” he said.

The man’s name is being withheld pending notification of relatives.