RCMP in St. Stephen said it has recovered a body from the St. Croix River following a search and rescue operation that began on Nov. 15.
At 2:35 p.m. on Saturday. police on patrol spotted a man on Milltown Blvd wanted on unendorsed warrants.
“As police approached the man, he fled and was last seen entering the St. Croix River near King Street and Budd Ave in St. Stephen and began swimming toward the U.S. border,” a statement from the RCMP said. “While in mid-river, the individual appeared to struggle and then went underwater and did not resurface.”
The RCMP said it immediately asked for help from U.S. Border Patrol, the Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard, and local fire department from St. Stephen and Calais, ME.
“Marine units and drones with thermal imaging were deployed to assist in the search,” the statement said.
It said on Nov. 16, a body was recovered from the river near the point of entry to the water.
Police have requested the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) to conduct an independent review of the incident, a common practice involving fatalities with police involvement.
SiRT confirmed to The Courier it had been contacted by the RCMP and was reviewing the incident, adding it would issue a press release “if SiRT finds this fits its mandate and takes over the investigation.”
The RCMP said its thoughts are with the family and loved one of the individual who died and extended it’s appreciate to the various partners who assisted in the search.
The individuals name and age has not been released.
