The body of a man in his 30s, who went missing Saturday night after a canoe overturned in Brampton’s Heart Lake, has been recovered, Peel police say.
Speaking with the media near the scene on Sunday afternoon, Const. Tyler Bell, said they were called to the Heart Lake Conservation Area, which is north of Sandalwood Parkway East and west of Highway 401, at around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday for reports of “boaters in distress.”
“It was reported to us that an adult male and female were on board a canoe in the lake, that canoe had capsized, and that the individuals needed assistance,” he said.
Bell said bystanders who were having a bonfire nearby called 911.
“Undoubtedly, we have them to thank for this woman’s rescue,” he said.
“Had it not been for the people that were ashore and able to hear the people in distress, we would be recovering two people that have died here without question.”
Emergency Crews arrived at the scene within minutes, said Bell, including with Brampton Fire and Emergency Services, which commenced search-and-rescue operations.
“They quickly located an adult female and brought her to shore. She’s now safe, and unfortunately, we were unable to locate an adult male that was missing,” Bell said, adding a canoe was also recovered from the lake.
The woman was taken to the hospital by paramedics with non-life-threatening injuries related to cold water exposure.
Police have since seized her vehicle as they conduct their investigation into the circumstances of this incident and the sequence of events.
Search-and-rescue continued into night
The search-and-rescue operation continued for several hours into the night and included the help of Peel Regional Police’s Air Support Unit, which conducted thermal imaging. However, no heat signatures were found, Bell said.
He went on to say that early this afternoon, PRP’s Marine Unit attended the scene and began underwater search-and-recovery operations and found a deceased adult male, also believed to be in his 30s.
Bell said while police are unsure of the relationship between the two individuals, they’re “obviously known to one another.”
He added that there were no life jackets at the time that the boat capsized.
The conservation area, Bell noted, was also closed at the time of the incident and “technically nobody should have had access to the water.”
“There’s a lot of questions here, and not so many answers at this early is this early point,” he said, adding it is unclear how they acquired the canoe and if it was theirs or not.
“Not to suggest that there’s anything criminal but we are looking at the circumstance as suspicious.”
Bell said the circumstances of this incident are “odd”: the fact that they were out on the water late at night and that it’s not prime boating season.
“There’s a lot of questions we need to answer just to make sure that there’s no foul play here,” he said.
An autopsy will be done to determine the man’s cause of death and people should expect a police presence in that area for the next while, added Bell.
An investigation is now ongoing by 22 Division’s Criminal Investigations Bureau and Office of the Chief Coroner.
More details to come. This is a developing story.
