Search resumes for missing boaters on Lake Coeur d’Alene

The search resumed Wednesday morning for three people, who are presumed to have drowned following a two-boat collision on Lake Coeur d’Alene Saturday night.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office was using sonar and a remote operated vehicle, similar to a tiny submarine, to search the lake bottom near Three Mile Point, where the collision occurred. Choppy water from windy conditions complicated the search efforts, said Lt. Stu Miller, a sheriff’s office spokesman. The lake is about 160 feet deep in that area.

The missing individuals have been identified as Justin M. Luhr, 34, of Medical Lake, and his two passengers, Justin T. Honken, 21, of Post Falls, and Caitlin A. Breeze, 21, of Spokane. They were on a 1989 Formula 223LS that was hit by a 2011 Mastercraft X25 motorboat carrying five passengers, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release. The accident occurred around 9:15 p.m.

All five passengers on the Mastercraft were taken to Kootenai Health for non-life-threatening injuries and have been released, the statement said.

Deputies are still investigating the cause of the crash.