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Man missing in Teslin presumed dead

“At this point it’s pretty much a recovery effort rather than a rescue effort. We always remain hopeful, but it would be doubtful at this point,” RCMP Sgt. Brad Kaeding said on Thursday.
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A 39-year-old man who went missing at Teslin Lake last week is now presumed dead.

“At this point it’s pretty much a recovery effort rather than a rescue effort. We always remain hopeful, but it would be doubtful at this point,” RCMP Sgt. Brad Kaeding said on Thursday.

The man is from Calgary. He and his wife had been boating on Teslin Lake around 10 p.m. on Tuesday when wind whipped up high waves and swamped the boat.

The woman was able to swim to shore with a PFD, but her husband disappeared under the waves. She had to hike nearly two hours before finding a cabin from where she could call for help.

Police units from Whitehorse, Carcross, Teslin, and Watson Lake were at first involved in the search on Tuesday night and into Wednesday, but Kaeding said most of those officers have been sent home now.

“There are still search efforts ongoing. We have scaled back a little bit, but there is still one boat on the water tonight and the plan is to go out again tomorrow and into the next few days unless something changes,” he said.

The man is of Russian heritage, about 185 cm tall with brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing black jeans and a green shirt. The couple was in a 16-foot fibreglass blue and silver boat with a Johnson outboard motor. Anyone finding debris along the shore of Teslin Lake is asked to call the Teslin RCMP.

The names of the man and his wife have not yet been released.