Divers find body of Flathead Lake boater

The body of a Huson man whose boat was found abandoned on Flathead Lake has been found by divers.

According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, one of their boats with one diver and a Flathead County Sheriff’s Office boat with two divers using side-scan sonar equipment located the body of 36-year-old Nathan Bird at approximately 12:20 p.m. Thursday.

The body was brought to shore and transported to the State Crime Lab in Missoula for a determination of cause of death and documented injuries.

The search for Bird began on Aug. 25 when a resident of one of the islands in the Narrows area of Flathead Lake reported a dog stranded in a boat with no person visible. The boat was found near shore with one dog in it, and another dog was found shivering on the shore.

Bird’s cellphone was also found in the boat and deputies used it to contact his wife, who said he had left to go fishing around 10:30 that morning. Search and rescue efforts immediately commenced, but were called off at 7 p.m. due to severe storms.

By the afternoon of Aug. 26, the emphasis of the search went from rescue to recovery, which eventually led to the discovery of Bird’s body.

It is not believed that foul play was involved.