Date: September 9, 2007
Contact: Al Nash, 307-344-2010
Contact: Stacy Vallie, 307 344-2012
Two elderly Idaho residents drowned after their canoe overturned in Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone National Park.
The victims have been identified as 74 year-old Fred Kisabeth and 80 year-old Charles Peters, both of Boise, Idaho.
The men had fishing permits and a backcountry permit for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night at three different campsites along the shore of Shoshone Lake, located in the backcountry southeast of Old Faithful.
Just before 7:00 pm Friday night, a group camping along the lakeshore used a cell phone to report finding an overturned red canoe; but had been unable to find anyone associated with the watercraft. A second party retrieved the canoe and brought it to shore.
Rangers from Grant, the South Entrance, and Old Faithful immediately responded to the location on foot and by canoe and kayak. They had to suspend their search shortly after arriving because of nightfall.
A search of the recovered canoe uncovered a partial backcountry permit, which helped rangers focus their search Saturday. The first victim was discovered in the water near the eastern shore of the lake around Noon Saturday; the other victim was discovered further out in the lake about an hour later.
Kisabeth and Peters were experienced canoeists, and were both found wearing life jackets. Windy conditions had been reported on the lake. Moving between campsites would have required the pair to make several open water crossings of the lake. Both the date and the cause of the accident remain under investigation.
These are the first accidental deaths in Yellowstone National Park this year, and the first drownings in the park since July 2005.
- www.nps.gov/yell -
