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Home > News > Deputies find body of 31-year-old canoeist who fell into the Snake River last month

Deputies find body of 31-year-old canoeist who fell into the Snake River last month

Deputies with the Canyon and Owyhee county sheriff’s offices located the body of a 31-year-old Boise man who fell out of his canoe on the Snake River last month.

A member of the public called in a report of a body floating on the Snake River just past Celebration Park to Canyon County 911 dispatchers Monday morning.

A Canyon County Sheriff’s deputy then spotted it near the Walters Ferry Bridge. Owyhee County Sheriff’s deputies were able to use their boat to recover the body a short time later.

Canyon County Coroner’s officials identified the man as Douglas Wick Tuesday morning.

Wick was the man who fell out of his canoe on April 21 on the Snake River and disappeared.

A 31-year-old woman who was in the canoe when it tipped over was able to swim to shore.

Investigators determined the couple put their canoe in the Snake River near the Swan Falls Dam and were about 1.5 miles from Celebration Park when they hit some water turbulence and the canoe tipped over.

Neither Wick or the woman were wearing life jackets at the time, but they had them in the canoe. The woman was able to grab one of them and use it to keep her above water as she swam to shore.

Witnesses say Wick held on to the canoe for a while before attempting to swim to shore.

The surface temperature of the swift-moving water at the time was 53 degrees and was dozens of feet deep where the canoe tipped over.

Witnesses called 911. Paramedics arrived and treated the woman at the scene for hypothermia.

A group of Ada, Canyon, and Owhyee county sheriff’s deputies began searching the area using sonar detection equipment in boats, while pilots of an air ambulance helicopter did an aerial search of the river and riverbanks.

The search went on for several days but was eventually suspended when officials found no trace of Wick.

The place where deputies recovered Wick Monday  — just past the Walters Ferry boat landing and Idaho 45 — is about 8.5 miles from where the canoe tipped over on April 21.

We would like to pass on a special “thank you” to the Canyon and Owyhee county deputies who continually searched the river for the last several weeks.