Name of drowning victim released

Authorities have identified the Kalispell man whose body was found in the Graves Bay area of the South Fork on Monday.

The death of Michael Keith Usery, 25, has been ruled as drowning by the state crime lab, according to a recent release from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.

Although authorities suspect he was intoxicated at the time of his death, toxicology results are not back from the state crime lab.

The Flathead County Sheriff’s dive team located Usery’s body within minutes Monday morning in about 21 feet of water just off a rocky ledge along the Graves Bay shoreline, the area where Usery was last seen alive around 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

He was reported missing Sunday at around 1 p.m. by the man with whom he had been camping.

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Forest Service, North Valley Search and Rescue, Flathead County 911, and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Posse were involved in responding to the incident.

The Graves Bay area is about 37 miles south of Hungry Horse Dam.