News

Individual dies at Lake Metigoshe

By Scott Wagar

06/18/2013

One individual died at Lake Metigoshe over the weekend when a canoe the individual was in tipped over from strong winds.

According to Bottineau County Sheriff Steve Watson, a group of people from the Minot Air Force Base were staying in the primitive campground at Lake Metigoshe State Park. While camping there, two individuals from the group made the decision to take a canoe out on to the lake which capsized near the state park due to strong winds on the lake.

Both individuals came to the surface and began asking for help. A pontoon which was close by came to assist the individuals and was able to save one person, but the other individual, Jason Mower, age 29, went under the water and did not come back to the surface.

The Bottineau County Sheriff’s Department was notified at 7:01 p.m., and search and rescue was called in to search for Mower. At 9:50 p.m., the search and rescue was called off when storm clouds came into the area with lightening, making it too dangerous for those conducting the rescue effort to be on the water.

The search resumed Sunday morning and Mower was found before the noon hour.

Mower’s body has been sent to Grand Forks for an autopsy.

Outside of the Bottineau County Sheriff’s Department, the United States Border Patrol, North Dakota Game and Fish, Lake Metigoshe State Park, Bottineau Dive and Rescue Team, Bottineau Fire Department, Lake Metigoshe Fire Department, Sherwood Fire Department, Bottineau County Emergency Office and Bottineau Ambulance was involved in the search and rescue.

At the time of the accident, the water temperatures at Lake Metigoshe were between 52 and 54 degrees Fahrenheit and the individuals were not wearing floatation devices.