ABOVE: Exhausted, one of the men that jumped in Whitefish Lake on Friday afternoon to rescue two friends who had fallen in the water after the canoe they were in capsized, rests his head on a wind surfing board. The search continues for a Lethbridge man’s body that has not yet been recovered.

Bachelor party ends in tragedy
Posted: Tuesday, April 12, 2006
Written by Tracy Eastman
Interviews by Mike Potter
Whitefish Free Press

A time of celebration turned to tragedy when a canoe overturned in 37-degree water on the north side of Whitefish Lake near Les Mason Park Friday afternoon. Nine friends had gathered at a house on the lake for a bachelor party. Shortly after they arrived, two of the men made a fatal decision to go out on the lake. When their canoe capsized, two friends on shore used wind surfing boards to attempt to rescue the men in the water. Only one of the men could be saved.

The victim has been identified by the Lethbridge Herald as Seamus Daley, a 26-year-old Lethbridge man and former Western Hockey League draft pick. The three men who returned to shore were released from North Valley Hospital shortly after being treated for hypothermia.

 

;;;;	Judge Brad Johnson and Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial look out onto Whitefish Lake as the rescue efforts continue Sunday evening. The search was later postponed until Wednesday pending the arrival of sophisticated sonar equipment.

Dana Gower of Whitefish was caretaking at a nearby home on Plaza Road when she heard the cries and called 911. “It was awful to hear their cries,” she said as she left the scene following the arrival of emergency crews. The Flathead County Dive Team, Whitefish Police and Fire Departments, and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call. According to Flathead County Undersheriff Mike Meehan, alcohol was a factor in the accident and the men were not wearing life jackets.

Divers began searching the lake Friday afternoon for the body thought to be approximately 100 feet offshore. Using side scan sonar and underwater cameras, dive teams continued their search throughout the weekend. The sonar device was attached to the Sheriff’s boat that patrolled back and forth in the search area. Traveling behind the boat at about an idle speed, the sonar scans an area of 10 – 25 feet depending on depth, light and visibility. If there is a hit with the side scan, divers can be sent down to confirm what was detected by the sonar. Reaching depths of almost 145 feet as they have expanded their perimeter, the divers have gone down as far as they will go. “The depth that [the divers] are comfortable with going to is 130 feet,” said Lt. Dave Leib of the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office. “[Their oxygen] can last about 7-10 minutes at 130 feet.”

“There are many, many hours of searching before we are going to give up,” said Meehan who explained that extremely cold temperatures coupled with the water depths found in Whitefish Lake can prevent a body from ever rising to the surface.

Dive Team Commander Jordan White explained that despite water clarity, lights were required because visibility was greatly reduced at depths greater than twenty feet below the surface.
 

Cadaver dogs were brought to the scene on Sunday morning to assist in the search efforts. Kim Gilmore of Columbia Falls, member of the Flathead Valley Search and Rescue and North Valley Search and Rescue teams, owns Brenner, a 3-year-old Belgian Shepherd. Brenner along with three other cadaver dogs were on the lake in a rubber raft searching for a scent. “They are scenting the top of the water for any scent that is originating from beneath the water,” explained Gilmore. She described the process as resembling a parking lot after a rainstorm. The puddles represent areas on the lake where human scent is concentrated on the surface of the water. “We’re driving the boat back and froth very similarly to what [the Sheriff’s boat] is doing and the dogs are hitting concentrated pools of scent. It’s not really scent specific; [the dogs] are just looking for human scent on the surface of the water.”
 

Kim Gilmore and cadaver dog, Brenner, a 3- year-old Belgian Shepherd, wait on shore following their attempt to locate the body of a 26-year-old Lethbridge man who has been missing since Friday afternoon.

After three days on Whitefish Lake, the search for Daley was halted Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. and will resume on Wednesday following the arrival of a more sophisticated sonar that is being brought from Boise, Idaho. Leib felt that there was hope for recovery of the body citing that this type of sonar was used to locate a missing person in Salmon Lake a couple of years ago.