The East Algoma Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is reporting that an Aweres Township (Heyden) man drowned near Aubrey Falls Saturday afternoon after the aluminum boat he was in tipped and he fell into Sawbill Lake.
The body of 62-year-old Manfred Reinholtz was found and recovered Sunday by the OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit and the OPP Aviation Services helicopter.
The investigation is ongoing.
Full text of a news release issued today by OPP follows:
ROOT TOWNSHIP - On Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020 at approximately 2:32 p.m., members from the East Algoma Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), OPP Emergency Response Team (ERT) and OPP Canine responded to a report of an overturned boat on Sawbill Lake (south of Peshu Lake Road) in Root Township.
Investigation determined a group of six fishermen paired up and launched two canoes and a 12-foot aluminum boat on Sawbill Lake. A short time later, the 12-foot aluminum boat tipped to the side and both occupants slipped into the water. One of the occupants of the boat made it to shore but the other occupant was not located.
On Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020, the OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit (USRU) and the OPP Aviation Services helicopter searched the lake and recovered Manfred Reinholtz, age 62 from Aweres Township, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
A post mortem examination is expected to take place in Sault Ste. Marie on Oct. 5, 2020.
The investigation is ongoing under the direction of the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service (OCC-OFPS).