A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
The Nemadji River in Wrenshall Township has many twists and turns east of Minnesota Highway 23, as well as steep banks. Recovering a body on the bank of the river Saturday was an arduous task for emergency rescue teams that arrived in the early afternoon and didn't leave the area until well after dark.
A father and his two sons canoeing on the Nemadji River in southeast Carlton County Saturday called in a report of human remains found on the river bank east of Minnesota Highway 23 and south of the Soo Line Trail. This week the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office was making an identification effort after a laborious effort to remove the remains from the remote area.
The Carlton County Sheriff's Office received a call at 1:30 p.m. about the find. Sheriff deputies and responders from Wrenshall and Carlton fire and rescue and the St. Louis County Rescue Squad navigated the densely wooded area and eventually located the remains with the help of the 911 caller. The body was recovered and turned over to the examiner's office for additional investigation and identification using DNA.
Chief deputy Dan Danielson said on Tuesday that there are "a few missing people from Carlton County currently" but none are suspected of going missing in that area.
Pete Laveau, the Wrenshall fire chief, said he walked about a mile to the river with deputies off the Soo Line Trail, about a mile east of Highway 23. The caller estimated the trio had been canoeing about 3 nautical miles east on the extremely winding river from Highway 23.
When Laveau and the others reached the area and looked around, they decided to call in the St. Louis County team that specializes in wilderness searches. The descent was just too steep, Laveau said.
The St. Louis County team went in on foot and by rescue boat along the Nemadji, which was too shallow in areas for motor use and often required crews to pull the craft along.
Members of the St. Louis County rescue team described the location of the remains as "deep in the Nemadji River valley south of Wrenshall. This operation proved to be one of the more challenging missions we've faced in recent memory."
Crews were on the Nemadji after dark on Saturday night, and the rescue team posted a picture of officers beside a fire on the river bank waiting for other members from upstream.
Three St. Louis County teams went into the deep gorge and then had to ascend out of it.
"It was a very long but ultimately successful night," the rescue team reported.
"We were thankful for the assistance of the fire departments and rescue squad members (and equipment) they brought to assist," Danielson said.
