Search continues for missing girl swept away in St. Mary River

By Lethbridge Herald on June 11, 2020.

Herald photo by Ian Martens - Members of a area Hutterite colonies watch from an outcrop overlooking the St. Mary River as an RCMP helicopter continues the search Thursday afternoon near Spring Coulee for a missing girl, one of three lost in the river the evening before. @IMartensHerald

Tim Kalinowski
Lethbridge Herald
tkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com

Two teen girls are confirmed dead and one is still missing after a canoe they were in overturned in the St. Mary River near Spring Coulee. According to the Raymond/ Magrath RCMP, the accident happened at about 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evening. The three girls from Spring Valley Hutterite Colony and had been out on the river with a group of friends when the boat they were in encountered difficulty. As they were trying to exit the boat, the canoe overturned dumping the three girls and others into the river.

One girl was confirmed dead at the scene, and another, also deceased, was retrieved by search crews early Thursday morning about 1,000 metres from where she was last seen. The third girl, described as having dark hair and wearing a green Hutterite style dress when she entered the water, was swept away, and was still missing as of Thursday evening.

All day Spring Valley Colony members kept a vigil over the point where the missing girl was last seen as neighbouring colonies began to come to offer support. Dozens stood on the nearby hills or lined the river where the girl was last seen watching the water for traces. Some colony members helped with the ground search, and two brave young men even entered the water later in the afternoon with harnesses and ropes attached to search river bed near where the boat turned over.

A colony from Manitoba was also sending a team with under water search capability which was expected to arrive to help on Friday, according to one source at the scene.Local colony members on the scene also confirmed there were originally 12 youths all boating and swimming together in two different canoes before the accident occurred.RCMP helicopters and aircraft also surveyed the scene though most of the day in hopes of sighting the missing girl along the river. As of press time on Thursday, the girl had not yet been found.

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