Body of missing paddler recovered from Swan Lake

The body of Ty Sitter, 23, Janesville, Wisconsin, who was reported missing on Swan Lake on June 9, was recovered Thursday, June 16, 2011.

Searchers from the Cook County Sheriff ’s Office, U.S. Forest Service, and the St. Louis County Sheriff ’s Rescue Squad retrieved the body from the water at approximately 5:30 p.m. Sitter’s body was located at a depth of 90 feet and approximately 500 feet from shore. Side scan sonar and a remote operated underwater vehicle (ROV) were utilized in the location and recovery of Sitter’s body.

The recovery ended a week of searching. Sitter was last seen fishing in a canoe by himself at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 9. He was on a Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) trip with his father and brother. When he had not returned to their campsite by 9:00 p.m., they went looking for him. They found Sitter’s canoe upright and unoccupied on the northwest side of the lake. Sitter’s life jacket, fishing gear and an anchor were in the canoe but there was no sign of Sitter. His fishing pole was also missing.

After a fruitless search, Sitter’s father and brother paddled out and alerted the Cook County Sheriff ‘s Office at around midnight. An immediate search was launched and a weeklong search followed, involving Central Lakes Search and Rescue and NorthStar Search and Rescue Dog Association; personnel from the Minnesota DNR; U.S. Forest Service; Cook County SRU; Grand Marais First Responders; air support from the U.S. Forest Service, Life Link II and Civil Air Patrol; as well as side scan sonar and underwater camera from the St. Louis County Sheriff ‘s Search and Rescue.

On June 16, an eight-person team—four responders from St. Louis County, two from Cook County, and two from the U.S. Forest Service—packed enough supplies to stay in the Boundary Waters to search for three full days. A second Zodiac was also to taken to make the ROV work easier. The team successfully located and recovered the missing man later that day.

Sitter’s body was transported to the University of Minnesota-Duluth for an autopsy. Sheriff Falk said preliminary results show that the cause of death was drowning. There were no other signs of injury.