Spirit River, Alberta- On July 28 2017 at approximately 8:30pm, Spirit River members were dispatched to the Smoky River, roughly 10 km downstream from the Watino Bridge.
It was learned that a 15 yr old male was with a group swimming when he got caught in an undercurrent and was pulled below the water surface.
Witnesses advise that the male came back up and drifted down river due to the current then went under again and was not seen after that.
Members from Spirit River, McLennan, Peace River and Grande Prairie responded. S&R from Peace River and Eaglesham Fire also responded.
The search is ongoing today and a dive team has been called out to assist.
The boy is from Shady Lane Hutterite Colony. Monday the police were back out on the river with their boat, and Tuesday there were boats going in the river and Eaglesham fire department along with Heart Hutterian Emergancy Aquatic Response Team from Manitoba.
The divers are starting up stream from all the rain we had over night Monday.
Update on August 3rd the missing boy has been recovered approximately 2 kilometres downstream from his last sighting. The RCMP would like to express condolences to the family and our thoughts are with them and the community of Spirit River during this difficult time. The RCMP would like thank all those who contributed their efforts in the search. The deceased’s name was not released by RCMP.
The Hutterite Community has previously released his name identifing him as Jerald Tschettere.