Prayers

[kelly-p]

Bemidji Pioneer

RED LAKE -- Rescuers are searching for two people who went missing after a boat capsized on Lower Red Lake on Monday afternoon.

According to Red Lake staff, law enforcement discovered the commercial Red Lake Fisheries boat capsized at about 3:43 p.m. Three people were originally missing, but rescuers found one person, who was taken to the hospital at about 4:13 p.m.

 

A search and dive team continued to look for the two other missing people as of 5:30 p.m., and no update was given as of 6:45 p.m. Police do not yet know why the boat capsized.

 

[leech~~]

Sad to hear, any updates yet?

[laportian]

Checked with my nephews just a few minutes ago and they said no one has been found yet. They were in a 22 foot boat. Sad day for the Red Lake community.

[kelly-p]

In another search, 10,000 holes dug in lake looking for missing fisherman on Lower Red Lake

By Forum News Service Today at 7:20 p.m.

BEMIDJI, Minn.—On a day when searchers recovered the bodies of two people on Upper Red Lake, the extensive search where more than 10,000 holes have been drilled looking for two missing Red Lake fishermen continues on Lower Red Lake.

 

The search for 29-year-old Deland Beaulieu and a 17-year-old boy, who has not been identified by officials, has now reached its fourth week. The two disappeared the afternoon of Monday, Nov. 6, when their Red Lake Fisheries boat capsized on Lower Red Lake. The third man on the boat, 32-year-old Dominick Johnson, was able to swim to shore and survived.

 

According to the Red Lake Police Department, searchers from the Stutsman County (N.D.) Sheriff's Department and a cadaver dog from Fargo returned Monday to help in the search for the missing fishermen.

In the past few weeks Red Lake Law Enforcement, fire department, and some community members, have drilled those more than 10,000 holes in the lake and used sonar and underwater camera equipment in pre-determined search areas that were mapped out by GPS, according to the department's Facebook page.

The process of searching under the ice will be greatly enhanced with additional sonar and camera equipment that can be mounted to remote-operated vehicles. The out-of-state teams are expected to search Tuesday and Wednesday, as well. Also, a team from St. Louis County in northeast Minnesota is tentatively expected to come later this week and work through the weekend with six underwater remote-operated vehicles.

 

Officials said the road to search areas will be blocked to ensure the search operations are not hindered by additional traffic.

Earlier on Monday, the bodies of two people were recovered from Upper Red Lake. The pair, Melissa Seidenstricker, 29, of Princeton, Minn., and Zeth Knyphausen, 28, of Stacy, Minn., had been reported missing after fishing on the lake this past weekend.

 

Also Monday, the Red Lake Tribal Council announced a donation fund for the families of the missing fisherman has been created at First National Bank Bemidji.

"Any monetary donation made would be greatly appreciated and can be deposited under the account: Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians—Fishermen Benefit Account," the council announced in a Facebook post.

[kelly-p]

Such a sad situation.

Bemidji Pioneer

Red Lake Council votes to allow fishing on lakes after fishermen go missing

RED LAKE -- The Red Lake Tribal Council voted Wednesday to allow fishing on both Upper and Lower Red Lake, nearly two months after two fishermen disappeared there.

The vote followed an hour-and-a-half meeting, during which tribal members, law enforcement personnel, Red Lake fisheries staff and others were invited to weigh in on whether fishing at the site of the anglers’ disappearance should be permitted while the pair remain missing.

“It’s very critical that we decide in a good manner,” Chairman Darrell Seki said at the start of the meeting. “It’s very difficult to make a decision without the input of you as tribal members, because we have two loved ones that are still out there somewhere.”

The two fishermen, identified as 29-year-old Deland Beaulieu and a 17-year-old boy, vanished on Nov. 6, when their Red Lake Fisheries boat capsized on Lower Red Lake. The third man on the boat, 32-year-old Dominick Johnson, was able to swim to shore and survived.

Red Lake law enforcement and community members, along with agencies from Leech Lake, Stutsman County (N.D.), Fargo, St. Louis County and Beltrami County have helped search areas of the lake since Beaulieu and the boy went missing. On Nov. 30, the Red Lake Department of Public Safety announced that crews using underwater remote-operated vehicle found footprints and a boot they thought belonged to one of the fishermen, but have not found the pair.

Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting, Director of Public Safety Bill Brunelle said that, starting about two weeks ago, his department had fielded calls from community members wondering whether the lake was closed to anglers.

No official decision had been made by law enforcement, Brunelle said, so he met with members of the tribal council, the Red Lake Fishery Board and family members of the missing fishermen. According to Seki, most of the family members supported opening the lake to fishing and hoped it would lead to Beaulieu and the 17-year-old. Most speakers also wanted to open the lake, and two informal polls taken during the meeting showed that most attendees were in favor.

“I know this is the decision of the community and the decision of the council, the fishermen, but I actually agree with a lot of people,” Brunelle said. “The more people that we get out there, the better chance we have of finding these boys, because right now they’re not where we thought they would be.”

But multiple speakers also expressed concern over the way the tribe uses the lake.

Red Lake firefighter Angelo Hart said that his grandparents told him that when their generation lost someone to the lake, they would have a feast to feed it.

“We're gonna find these guys, I know we will, but we need to have a feast for this lake, we need to feed the lake,” Hart said. “We need to start respecting the lake more. The lake is alive and it's telling us things.”

Though two council members -- Robert Smith and Treasurer Annette Johnson voted against allowing fishing before the anglers are found, the rest of the council voted in favor of a resolution to open fishing. At the close of the meeting, Seki said only adults are allowed on the lake, in case bodies are found.

“Remember fishermen, before you go out there, do a prayer,” Seki said. “Do an offering to the lake.”

[kelly-p]

This was a long tough ordeal for the families,  friends and all the rest of us that spend time around URL and LRL.

Bemidji Pioneer

Missing fishermen recovered from Lower Red Lake

March 22, 2018

RED LAKE -- The bodies of two fishermen who went missing on Lower Red Lake in November have been recovered, according to authorities and family members.

A news release posted to the Red Lake Police Department’s Facebook Page said that Red Lake conservation officers and a tribal council representative found one of the fishermen -- a 17-year-old boy -- at about 2:15 p.m. Wednesday. The boy, whose name has not been released by law enforcement, was found in shallow water near an area of Lower Red Lake called “second bridge.”

The same group of searchers found the second fisherman -- 29-year-old Deland Beaulieu -- at about 8 a.m. Thursday, about 150 feet away from where they found the boy. Both bodies were found using a remote-operated underwater vehicle equipped with a camera and sonar

Both bodies were taken to the Indian Health Services hospital in Red Lake. The news release said autopsies would be scheduled, but did not say where.

Deland Beaulieu’s mother Rita Beaulieu also confirmed with the Pioneer via Facebook Messenger Thursday morning that her son and the 17-year-old had been found.

Beaulieu said she heard the news from Red Lake Department of Public Safety Director Bill Brunelle, who was not available for comment Thursday morning. Beaulieu said at about 9:30 a.m. that family members were at Lower Red Lake.

Beaulieu and the 17-year-old disappeared the afternoon of  Monday, Nov. 6, when their Red Lake Fisheries boat capsized on Lower Red Lake. A third man on the boat, 32-year-old Dominick Johnson, was able to swim to shore and survived.

During the four-month search Red Lake officials enlisted the help of multiple other agencies including the Stutsman County (N.D.) Sheriff’s Office, St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, Leech Lake Tribal Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol, FBI, Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office, Bemidji Fire Department and Leech Lake Conservation Enforcement Department.

On Nov. 30, search teams using remote-operated underwater vehicles found footprints and a shoe they believe belonged to one of the fishermen.

In early January, the Red Lake Tribal Council decided to allow band members to fish on Lower Red Lake again.

In the release, law enforcement said that the assisting agencies and their equipment helped eliminate hundreds of acres of the lake, “ultimately leading to Red Lake searching new areas and discovering the bodies.”

[eyeguy 54]

R.I.P 

[ANYFISH2]

RIP...

Glad they could come home.

[IceHawk]

Sad  at least there is closure now.

[Borch]

RIP.