The body of a 22-year-old Edmonton man with family ties to the Athabasca area was recovered from the Athabasca River Sept. 7, five days after the man went missing near the Klondyke Ferry, approximately 35 kilometres northwest of Barrhead.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. Sept. 2, the man “was trying to ford the river when he lost his footing and was swept away,” stated Barrhead RCMP Sgt. Bob Dodds.
“He was with a group of people, and there was an independent group of people on the shore who saw the whole thing happen,” said Dodds, indicating there were “plenty” of witnesses to the mishap.
“He turned around and gone back from where he’d come (from), and separated himself from the group, and either lost his footing or hit a deep spot in the water, but was basically swept away,” said Dodds.
“They saw him surface a couple of times downriver, but nobody was able to get to him, and then he disappeared.”
“Crews from Klondike Trail (Search & Rescue) and the Stony Plain and Barrhead RCMP were on the river conducting searches (Saturday) when the body was observed floating with the current about five kilometers downstream from where the victim first went missing,” Dodds said in a press release last Saturday.
He said the name of the deceased will not be released.
