‘Big loss’: Remaining men missing on Lake Winnipeg identified
Posted July 5, 2024 3:23 pm.
Last Updated July 5, 2024 6:34 pm.
The two boaters still missing on Lake Winnipeg have been identified by leaders of the Misipawistik Cree Nation.
Delaney McGillvary, 29, and Rayden Dick, 28, were reported missing last week. The community says it’s working hard to bring them home.
The men were members of a fishing party that included 31-year-old Tyler Ballantyne, whose body was found Wednesday by search and rescue teams.
The three men were returning from a fishing trip in the lake’s northern basins when they stopped to hunt moose.
Misipawistik Cree Nation Chief Heidi Cook says the missing men are dearly missed. McGillvary is described as a hard-working, friendly outdoorsman who loved his family; and Dick always lifted people up in the lakeside communities with regular check-ins.
“There’s always aching and longing when your loved ones are missing,” Cook said.
“We just need to bring them home as soon as we can.”
Ballantyne is being remembered as a dedicated father and family man.
Community members and officials continue to scour parts of the massive water body for any further sign of the fishermen. The area being searched currently spans 64 square kilometres.
Cook says time is of the essence.
“The worry is that if we don’t find them soon, that we might lose them to the lake and we just need as many people as we can helping to find them and bring them home.”
The RCMP say they’re employing numerous resources in the search.
“Patience, favourable weather and consistently keeping the search going is key at this time,” RCMP spokesperson Julie Courchaine told CityNews.
The RCMP say support pouring into the community has been helping, and when it comes to deploying further search and rescue resources, they’re assessing the situation every day.
