Another person has drowned in a lake in the northern Kawarthas.
On Saturday evening (June 5), Bancroft OPP responded to reports that a 22-year-old Scarborough woman had gone missing in the water of Papineau Lake, located around 30 kilometres north of Bancroft in Hastings Highlands.
Witnesses told police the woman had fallen off a floating device while in the water around 8 p.m. on Saturday and did not make it back to shore.
On Saturday evening, police conducted an unsuccessful search of the area with the assistance of the OPP Emergency Response Team.
Police continued the search on Sunday (June 6) with the assistance of the Underwater Search and Recovery Unit, who recovered the woman’s body just before 2 p.m.
The Office of the Chief Coroner is directing the ongoing investigation, with a post-mortem examination scheduled. Police say foul play is not suspected in the woman’s death.
This is the fifth apparently accidental death in the past three weeks in the northern Kawarthas region.
On May 12, Haliburton Highlands OPP found a 63-year-old woman without vital signs in Loon Lake southeast of Haliburton. On May 20, Bancroft OPP recovered the body of a 68-year-old Ajax man from Mink Lake north of Bancroft. On June 1, Bancroft OPP recovered the body of a 60-year-old Combermere man from Bells Rapids Lake north of Bancroft. On June 3, police recovered the body of a 60-year-old man from Dark Lake in Wilberforce east of Haliburton.
This story has been updated with the news that police recovered the missing woman’s body.
