**** IMPORTANT 2 missing On Coal lake .Important read.*****
 

A friend of mine on Facebook , has reported that 2 of her friends have gone missing , doesn't sound good , boat was found empty without them in it . They have been missing since Friday at 930 pm. Apparently the RCMP have been out .

I said I'd put this on here for hopes get a few folks out in there boats , maybe we can arrange something tommorow .

I'll be honest and say its probably more like a search for 2 bodies , but perhaps they tipped there boat and are on shore some place .

Pm me if your able to bring your boat and help search for these guys. I've messages her for more info like pictures of each guy , and what they were wearing .

They have pounded several hundred yards of shore line , but it's such a long lake .

More info to come as I get it ......

Terrible.... Hope everything works out BBJ and there is a happy ending to this!

any idea what end of lake? as you say, its a long lake and ill be fishing it tonight in my canoe and will keep my eyes peeled. i will be fishing the southern half.

More info
 

South shore Is where there boat was found .
These guys were fishing .

I just forwarded the link to this thread to Lefty-Canuck...pretty sure he's out there today.

I'll be out there tomorrow morning on the south end with my boat. From what I've read, all that has been found is an overturned boat, a floating shoe, and their empty vehicle. As of 15 minutes ago, I heard they are bringing in the dive team, which is obviously not a good sign...

John if you head out there give me a call, I'd be more than happy to come out and look.

I was out there today. 2 police boats, a plane, many people in other boats, kayaks, PWC....quads and ATVs....

Talked to a few of the people there. Supposedly 2 guys went out fishing on Friday....were supposed to be back around 10ish. The boat was found on the South end in the reeds before the spill way and the motor was in gear (I was told this by a couple of folks who were close to one of the missing).

LOTS of people out there....S&R teams. The divers are going to have a tough time. Visibility best I can figure would only be about 2-3 feet where I was wading tops.

Sad story....reminder to be safe and wear your life jackets no matter how close you are to shore or how long you are going to be out on the water.

LC.

was there earlier to day ,,i could feel the sadniest ...sounds like a sad story is about to on fould ,,,a wake up call ,,to me :(

How deep is the lake? I only fished it once and figured since I saw winterkill it was shallow. Very sad story indeed. I hope they find them soon to put the family's at peace.

doesn't sound good
 

hope you find them

Most of the lake is 6-10 feet, there are some deeper holes though. Supposedly 20-30' but im not sure, no fish finder.


Really sad to hear this, another reminder to keep things safe on the water.


Sad story to say the least.

Unfortunate incident. Hope for the best possible outcome.

I lost 2 buddies in a very similar story. All i can say is i hope this one has a happy ending.

coal lake is 18 km long ,very weedy and muddy water .

If I had a boat I would be out there helping.

Andy

RE
 

Sorry to hear that. I hope things are ok.

Can head out there tomorrow, if they still need ppl.

So I was talking to my friend , And they said that they need less boats to help the divers make life a little easier . So I think its best bet if you want to help , just simply stay away .

Its a sad story , but had they been wearing life jackets they would likely have been found rather then being recovered .

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/...465/story.html

Search continues for missing Coal Lake boaters

By Brent Wittmeier, edmontonjournal.com May 21, 2012 10:02 AM

EDMONTON - Dive teams are continuing a search for a pair of boaters missing since Friday evening on Coal Lake, Wetaskiwin RCMP say.
Police received a report about 3 a.m. Saturday of the two missing men, ages 19 and 26, who had been fishing in a four-metre metal boat about 70 kilometres southeast of Edmonton. Police don’t believe either man was wearing a life-jacket.

Shortly after 9 a.m. on Monday morning, the RCMP recovery team, equipped with sonar and divers, were set to resume their search in a couple of key spots, said Cpl. Kevin Krebs. They were called in on Sunday when the search became a recovery mission.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t finish last night due to the dark,” Krebs said. “Hopefully shortly we can bring it to a successful conclusion for the families.”

Nearly 200 people spent the weekend searching for the men, whose identities have not been released. Both are residents of the Camrose area. Conditions on the lake were calm Sunday, but Krebs said rescue crews responding to the initial report experienced “a snowstorm and wind.”

The men’s capsized boat was recovered Saturday from the weeds on the lake’s shore. Searchers also found a tackle box, clothing and other personal items.

One of the missing men is an avid fisherman who has been on the lake several times, Krebs said Sunday.

“He knew the lake and had been out before. The other one was his friend and I don’t believe he had been out on this lake before,” he said.

More to come ...

bwittmeier@edmontonjournal.com

missing boys!
 

Ps. Picture of EJ on the bottom!!

I hope your optimism rings true! I will be sending as much positive energy that way as I can.

X2....I was out there to witness the efforts that people were/are taking to find these 2.....they obviously have an extensive group of family and friends.

LC

Went to Coal last night with my boys to fish the spill way, had no idea what was going on as we chose to avoid the boat launch area where we normally fish as we could see it was packed.

One of the missing's aunts came over and informed us as to what was going on and asked me if I could retreave a shoe for her with my rod....caught the shoe for her and out of respect for them we packed up our gear and left wishing them the best of luck in their search.

Drove by Wetaskiwin R.C.M.P. this morning and looks like they are getting their boat ready to go back out again.

Hoping this has a positive outcome!

search as been called of,,,thats one hard lake to search,,its as a under current that pulls south towards the spillway ,,them poor souls are not to far away from there.

I waded out in front of the entire spillway on Sunday, looking for any sign of them.....the water level is really down it was at the deepest point was maybe waist deep.....if they are in the water on the South end it would be a really slim chance for them to show up right at the spillway.....too many weeds and logs/debris between the main body of the lake and the spillway.

On an unrelated topic....if you want to fish a spillway area aren't you supposed to be 25m from it?

Hope the Families and Friends get some closure one way or the other....

LC

Funny that you mention that Lefty....after we left Coal we went to south end of Dried meat lake and there was a sign there stating that.....why no sign at Coal?

And for the record we were up top not down below!

First off.....sorry for the minor derail...

I am not sure but I see people fishing the spillway all the time. I was just curious as I know some of tthe southern reservoir spillways are diligently enforced.

I waded out front there and it is barely 3 feet deep there.

LC

Any more news on the search? is it still suspended?

I believe so , weather is pretty difficult in dealing with what there trying to do . Being into this day 6 I think they will get out once weather is nice and do some searching , other then that I think They will hold off and suspend , dont need anymore accidents .

Its a very sad incident that has happened . Proof that Life Jackets save lives . I think you can be the most optimistic person around , if they were still alive I think they would have been found , there are alot of farms near by , and with the assistance of Aircraft , they would have found something .

Its to bad 2 young guys had to go like this . You gotta feel horrible for there friends , family , and just as a group of outdoorsmen .

I agree BBJ...after seeing the look first hand on the faces of the family and seeing the RCMP boat just sitting in the parking lot in town and the bad weather...you just want to see some closure for these people.

Looks like the weather is gonna clear up today so hopefully they can get back out there this afternoon.