(WHITEWATER REGION TWP, ON) – On June 22, 2018 at approximately 830pm members of the Upper Ottawa Valley Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police were dispatched to an area of rapids on the Ottawa River in Whitewater Region Township after a male swimmer failed to return to shore. The missing 20-year-old man, from the Town of Petawawa, had entered the water earlier that evening with a second man from Petawawa. Both men became caught in a section of rapids on the Ottawa River adjacent to Grants Settlement Road and were swept away. The second male was eventually able to make his way to shore and summonsed for help after the first male was not accounted for.
Members of the OPP, Whitewater Region Fire Department, Garrison Petawawa Fire Department and Renfrew County Paramedics responded and were assisted in the initial search by local professionals in the whitewater rafting community. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) was notified and two helicopters with Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) technology were deployed to the area to assist in the search at the time but were met with negative results. The search continued on Saturday and Sunday June 23 and 24, 2018 with the assistance of the OPP helicopter and OPP’s Underwater Search and Recovery Unit (USRU). Thus far the search has met with negative results.
In addition to a ground search, OPP’s USRU continues the search today June 25, 2018.
Updates will be provided as they become available.