Update: Missing boater identified by Sheriff's Office
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 7 years, 3 months AGO
Photo by JEFF ANDERSON Before daylight Tuesday, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and Kootenai County Fire & Rescue personnel search for a missing person who went into Fernan Lake when a 10-foot aluminum boat capsized.
LOREN BENOIT/Press A Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team searches for a missing boater Tuesday morning at Fernan Lake. It was reported two individuals were on an aluminum boat and were transporting gear from the East Fernan Boat Launch to land on the south side of the lake when the boat capsized. One boater made it to shore. A search for the second boater is underway.
LOREN BENOIT/PressTwo boaters were on Fernan Lake early Tuesday morning when their boat capsized. One boater made it to shore. An active search is underway to find the second boater. Here, a Kootenai County takes a picture of the aluminum boat.
A search continues this afternoon at Fernan Lake for a person who has been missing since earlier this morning when a boat is reported to have capsized on the lake.
Jesse A. Bishop, 60, of Airway Heights, Wash. was last seen in the water sometime before 5:10 a.m. when the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a fisherman reporting a drowning at the lake’s east end.
Nathaniel C. Storch, 19, of Spokane Valley, was with Bishop in a 10-foot aluminum boat transporting camping gear from the East Fernan Boat Launchto the south side of the lake,
Per the Sheriff’s Office, the vessel capsized due to being overloaded, and both occupants went into the water. Storch was wearing a life jacket; however Bishop was not. Storch was able to swim to shore, but Jesse remains missing.
Currently the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office Sonar Team is conducting an underwater search of the area, however due to the weeds in the area, the search has been slow.
This is still an active investigation and more information will be released when available, the Sheriff’s Office said, in a news release.
