Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Boy dead, father and brother missing after canoe capsizes near Warden

Rescuers search for members of an Othello, Wash., family after its canoe capsized Friday in the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge.  (Courtesy of Grant County Sheriff's Office)

One boy is dead, another is hospitalized and their father and brother are missing after the canoe the Othello, Washington, family was in capsized Friday in the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge near Warden, Washington.

The 32-year-old man and his three sons – ages 6, 8 and 10 – went to a lake at the wildlife refuge south of State Route 262 to go fishing, according to a Facebook post by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

Their canoe capsized sometime before nightfall, the post stated. The 10-year-old made it to shore, but the man and his two other sons did not resurface.

Family members became concerned when the group did not return and searched for their loved ones, the sheriff’s office said. They found the 10-year-old along the shore and called 911, summoning rescuers shortly before 11 p.m. Friday.

The 10-year-old was taken to Samaritan Healthcare in Moses Lake for hypothermia treatment. Rescuers recovered the body of the 8-year-old boy early Saturday morning.

Rescuers returned around 7:30 a.m. Saturday to continue searching for the man and his 6-year-old son. The sheriff’s office said on Facebook that the search Saturday had been called off at sundown, though “their bodies have not been recovered.” It is expected to resume at 7 a.m. Sunday.

“We are crestfallen that the family and Othello community have suffered such a painful loss,” the Facebook post said.

The sheriff’s office said the name of the family will be withheld until the search is complete.