Post Falls Man Missing Since ‘99 Ruled Dead Michael Morzewski Disappeared While Boating At Hayden Lake

Beth Morzewski will no longer have to worry about mortgage payments.

Nor will she have the stress of selling personal belongings or moving out of the Post Falls house that her two daughters have always known as home.

Since her husband, Michael, disappeared more than a year ago while boating on Hayden Lake, Morzewski and her children have been struggling financially.

Kootenai County sheriff’s investigators presumed Michael Morzewski had drowned while boating on the choppy waters on Nov. 3, 1999.

His turquoise and white fiberglass boat was found washed ashore.

But because his body has never been found, Morzewski’s family couldn’t collect on a $200,000 life insurance policy or receive Social Security benefits.

Until now.

Last week, 1st District Judge James Judd ruled the 36-year-old man died that day.

“It’s bittersweet in a way,” said Morzewski’s mother-in-law, Lee Hall. “It did make us realize even more that this is the end of it.”

Judd’s decision will be sent to the state’s Bureau of Vital Statistics, whose officials will issue a death certificate, spokeswoman Carolann Connor said.

Beth Morzewski’s attorney, Paul Daugharty, said his office is sending all the required paperwork to the agency. A death certificate could be issued by Tuesday.

Morzewski and her daughters, ages 10 and 7, have been in dire straits since Michael Morzewski’s disappearance.

The avid fisherman and outdoorsman had planned a short fishing trip that fall afternoon.

He called his wife and told her he would be back to greet the girls when they arrived from school.

But when Beth Morzewski learned her husband never came home, the family called sheriff’s deputies. Michael Morzewski’s brother discovered Morzewski’s truck at Honeysuckle boat launch.

Searchers found Morzewski’s boat washed ashore near English Point, on the northwestern side of the lake.

Dive crews tried searching the lake, which is as deep as 100 feet in some areas. They even used high-tech sonar equipment.

Meanwhile, Beth Morzewski tried to pull in an income working part time as an office manager for a certified public accountant.

Friends held bake sales, raffles and garage sales to try to raise money.

“The hard thing is, usually when something like this happens people say, `By now things are fine’,” said friend Carolyn Shewfelt, who helped organize fund-raisers. “Sometimes it’s just not.”

Until last week, Shewfelt was planning to hold another fund-raiser selling caramel apples, and maybe a used car.

“It’s such a relief,” Shewfelt said. “It was just such a tremendous strain on her. Now she can actually make ends meet and be a mom.”

While the news is a much-needed relief before the holidays, there’s still grieving to be done.

“Last year we were numb at Christmas. Now we’re just exhausted,” Lee Hall said. “This year, we know it will never be the same.”