ORILLIA, Ont. -- The man and boy who died when their canoe capsized earlier this week were very close and they shared the same passion for hunting and fishing.
Shawn and Owen Thompson died Tuesday after a disastrous duck hunting outing early that morning, when their aluminum canoe overturned in the icy water of Lake Couchiching. Shawn, 12, was pulled from the water at about 10:00 a.m., after at least two hours in the water, but later died in hospital.
Owen, 23, has yet to be found despite extensive efforts by local firefighters scouring the shallow water off Cumberland Beach in dry suits and from inflatable craft.
“They would fish twice a week in the winter and every night in the summer,” said Linda Thompson, Shawn’s adoptive mother who has been caring for him since he was seven months old. Owen was Shawn’s uncle and Linda’s common-law husband for the last seven years.
“Shawn would live at the dock if he could,” said Thompson, 44.
OPP divers searched under water Tuesday afternoon and the OPP helicopter flew over the area Tuesday and Wednesday.
OPP divers were hampered from the search by more ice formation off Lunge Point on Wednesday and Thursday, which made it dangerous for the divers, said OPP Const. Peter Leon.
“I suspect that with some mild weather coming in over the weekend that this may help them (the OPP divers) should the ice begin to break up and allow searching to resume,” he said.
ww.torontosun.com/2011/12/29/man-and-boy-who-drowned-in-ontario-lake-remembered
Shawn and Owen Thompson died Tuesday after a disastrous duck hunting outing early that morning, when their aluminum canoe overturned in the icy water of Lake Couchiching. Shawn, 12, was pulled from the water at about 10:00 a.m., after at least two hours in the water, but later died in hospital.
Owen, 23, has yet to be found despite extensive efforts by local firefighters scouring the shallow water off Cumberland Beach in dry suits and from inflatable craft.
“They would fish twice a week in the winter and every night in the summer,” said Linda Thompson, Shawn’s adoptive mother who has been caring for him since he was seven months old. Owen was Shawn’s uncle and Linda’s common-law husband for the last seven years.
“Shawn would live at the dock if he could,” said Thompson, 44.
OPP divers searched under water Tuesday afternoon and the OPP helicopter flew over the area Tuesday and Wednesday.
OPP divers were hampered from the search by more ice formation off Lunge Point on Wednesday and Thursday, which made it dangerous for the divers, said OPP Const. Peter Leon.
“I suspect that with some mild weather coming in over the weekend that this may help them (the OPP divers) should the ice begin to break up and allow searching to resume,” he said.
ww.torontosun.com/2011/12/29/man-and-boy-who-drowned-in-ontario-lake-remembered
