UPDATED VERSION
There were no signs of foul play on the body of a 56-year-old Whitehorse man pulled from Lake Laberge on Friday, according to a coroner’s investigation and autopsy.
On June 29, at around 5 p.m., police were notified Darcy Gene Helman had gone missing from the downtown area.
Helman was currently without a fixed address, so officers began looking for him in places he was known to frequent, said Sgt. Don Rogers.
On July 1, police were told to try searching the river, as Helman had fallen in near Boston Pizza a few days before, but had been pulled out by a friend.
While officers were organizing a jet boat to begin the water search, they received a call from a canoeist at 4:30 p.m., said Rogers.
The lone paddler found the body.
He stayed on the scene to lead officers and the coroner to corpse, which was snagged on a log near where the Yukon River flows into the lake.
It was identified as Helman.
His family, who live outside the territory, have been informed, said Rogers.
There were no visible injuries and the cause of death is consistent with drowning, said Yukon’s chief coroner Sharon Hanley.
Hanley is still waiting on a toxicology report, which will identify any alcohol or drugs in Helman’s system.
She recorded the date of death as June 30.
Contact Roxanne Stasyszyn at
roxannes@yukon-news.com