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The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office and St. Louis County Rescue Squad have located the body of Jesse Melvin Haugen, 41, of Cambridge, MN Friday, May 31 during search operations near Curtain Falls in the BWCA which have continued for nearly the past two weeks. Search efforts continue in attempts to locate the second missing canoeist Reis Melvin Grams, 40, of Lino Lakes, MN. Crews will continue searching into next week with flights in and out unavailable until Monday.
Weather and water conditions continue to be a large factor in the search efforts with further rainfall slated for later this weekend. Search efforts continue with 8-12 personnel on the ground at base camp and utilizing Zodiac boats, Canoes, ROV, Drones, and K-9 teams in a variety of search sorties in and around the area. Additionally, staffing continues at Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and assistance with flight operations.
Governor Tim Walz on May 23 authorized the Minnesota National Guard to transport equipment to support search and rescue operations in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). The assistance is authorized by Emergency Executive Order 24-04.
On May 18, four canoeists went over Curtain Falls inside the BWCA. Two members of the group have been rescued; however, two Minnesota residents remain missing.
“No one expects their vacation to turn to crisis. Yet, when four canoeists went over Curtain Falls in the BWCA, this became a reality,” said Goveror Walz. “My family is intimately familiar with the fear and heartbreak these canoeists are feeling. We are praying for those involved and immensely grateful to everyone from the Sheriff’s office to the National Guard who are supporting this mission.”
The Minnesota National Guard provided a CH-47 (Chinook) helicopter and four crew members for the mission in the BWCA. A landing zone was created near Curtain Falls for the Chinook helicopter to drop off supplies.
The crew was requested to provide lift assets to transport a boat and additional equipment from the Ely airport to the area where two Minnesotans went missing.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s office reported on May 24 the Rescue Squad was able to utilize an influx of assistance from the MN National Guard, Ely FD, Ely PD, MN DNR, USFS, and Anderson Canoe Outfitters and coupled with the good weather were able to transport in equipment and personnel by air and water to the search area.
Boats (Zodiacs and canoes), sonar, ROV’s, drones, Dogs and Personnel were able to reach the area with search efforts continuing today and throughout the weekend.
Camp was established to support the search efforts as personnel spent the majority of the weekend conducting shoreline, water and ROV searches.
Search efforts continue to be difficult due to the weather, rise in water levels, and current in the search area.
Over a dozen crew members were on the ground at the search area with several others supporting in air operations and command posts.
