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Firefighters and police wait on the shore of Lake of Two Mountains early Monday. (PETER McCABE/The Gazette)
Body of snowmobiler, 13, pulled from Lake of Two Mountains
Father and son believed to have plunged through the ice on way back to Ile Bizard
Michelle Lalonde
The Gazette
Monday, January 11, 2010
Firefighters and police wait on the shore of Lake of Two Mountains early Monday. (PETER McCABE/The Gazette)
Provincial police divers pulled the body of a 13-year-old Île Bizard boy out of the frigid waters of Lake of Two Mountains yesterday afternoon, but had to suspend the search for his father until this morning.
A 38-year-old man and his son had set out on a snowmobile Sunday at 5 p.m. from an ice fishing site near the shore of Ste. Marthe sur le Lac to head home to Île Bizard across the partially frozen lake.
When friends had not heard from the two an hour later, they feared the worst and called police.
About 10 p.m. Sunday, a Sûreté du Québec helicopter search team spotted a snowmobile trail that appeared to end at a strip of open water, clearly visible in daylight, about one kilometre from the shore.
SQ divers began their underwater search at that spot, where the water is two to three metres deep, about noon yesterday. Just before 2 p.m. they spotted the snowmobile on the lake bottom, with its trailer still attached.
The boy’s body was found about 15 metres from the snowmobile, said Constable Christopher Harding of Deux Montagnes regional police.
Although there is an official snowmobile trail across the lake whose safety is verified by the Fédération des clubs de motoneigistes du Québec the two were nowhere near it, Harding said.
“They were about half a kilometre from snowmobile Trail 33,” he said.
“It was at night, so we don’t know if they lost their bearings or if they decided to just take a straight line home.”
The underwater search, suspended at 4:30 p.m. yesterday as darkness fell, is to continue this morning.
Residents of Ste. Marthe sur le Lac expressed sadness over the incident, but said the lake is treacherous at the best of times, and particularly this early in the winter.
“You really have to know this lake to venture out on it,” said Pierre Bernier, who lives on the lake’s shore in Ste. Marthe.
“It’s really not solid. There is the current and all these pumping stations around, and the ice is just not thick enough yet.
“The rule is simple: You have to stay on the club trails, and if you go outside them, you’re playing with your life.”
Dozens of ice-fishing huts dot the shoreline at Ste. Marthe; there was even a para-skier out on the lake yesterday afternoon, enjoying the sunshine and light winds.
Police should be more vigilant about overseeing the lake, some residents say.
“It’s just not a safe lake,” said Jennifer Fabris, whose home is also at the water’s edge in Ste. Marthe.
“In the summer you can see the whitecaps and the shifting currents that are changing all the time.
“In the winter, we see all kinds of snowmobilers out there at night and we try to keep track of them. We count heads. It’s really nerve-racking.”
Harding said regional police officers do patrol the shoreline at night and often ticket reckless snowmobilers who drive off trail or tow children on inner tubes.
“Too many people around here just don’t realize how dangerous this lake is,” said Jean-Guy Lalonde, who lived near the site as a teenager and came to the waterfront yesterday to watch the search.
“I have to tip my hat to those divers out there in that freezing water,” he added.
Sad news
A very sad event , however when will people LEARN to stay off the river ( ICE ) . I don't care if the ice is 2 inches or 200 inches thick . Stay off it and live to see another day.