Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
After a three-day search, the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officials have come to a heartbreaking conclusion. The 17-year-old boy missing near Paulding since Friday evening has been found dead. Ontonagon County Sheriff Dale Rantala and County Emergency Management staff notified the family late this afternoon.
From the get go, the weather hampered efforts of police agencies at the local, county, tribal, state and federal levels. A Coast Guard helicopter from the Traverse City station was unable to provide air support Saturday due to low visibility. The same occurred Monday. Civil Air Patrol – Houghton Wing was able to do flights on Sunday under clear skies.
Initially, the Ontonagon Sheriff’s Department asked for the public to avoid the area so K-9 units could conduct a search. By Saturday afternoon, volunteers began showing up from as far away as Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Over 400 in total combed through swamp and woods on Sunday doing line searches over much of the southern part of Ontonagon County. Monday, 300 volunteers and 30 law enforcement personnel were back at it. They found the boy’s left shoe near 10 AM and used that to eventually narrow in on his body.
“Our community mourns the loss of this young man,” said Ontonagon County Sheriff Dale Rantala. Rescuers had been committed to finding him and worked tirelessly throughout the operation. Something like this is truly heartbreaking.”
