Body of Misipawistik Cree Nation man recovered weeks after truck fell through ice

The body of a 31-year-old man who went missing after the truck he was in fell through the ice in northwestern Manitoba last month has been found, while the search for a 23-year-old woman who was with him continues.

Corbin Constant and Tasha Ferland, 23, drove onto Cedar Lake in the early morning hours of Dec. 16, when the pickup truck they were travelling in fell through the ice about 75 metres from shore, west of Manitoba Hydro’s Grand Rapids Generating Station.

RCMP previously said the two were unable to get out of the vehicle before it fell into the water of the lake, which is north of Lake Winnipegosis.

Mounties, along with the Grand Rapids Fire Department and Manitoba Hydro, began a search and found the truck on Dec. 18, but Constant and Ferland were not in it.

In a statement Saturday, RCMP confirmed Constant's body was recovered by local searchers on Thursday, while the search for Ferland is continuing.

Those efforts are expected to continue, weather dependent, the RCMP statement said.

"The recovery of one of our loved one … meant a lot," Misipawistik Cree Nation Chief Heidi Cook told CBC on Saturday.

In statements last month, Constant's family described him "a beloved son, brother, grandson, nephew and friend" who left a "lasting imprint on everyone’s heart and touched the lives of all who knew him."

The news of Thursday's recovery is hard for the family, Cook said.

"But they're relieved and grateful."

Search conditions improve

Volunteers have joined the Grand Rapids Fire Department and RCMP in their efforts locating the bodies.

The Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team, or HEART — an underwater search and recovery team based at the Oak Bluff Hutterite Colony, south of Winnipeg — also participated, but had to stop after its air boat sustained significant damage, said Paul Maendel, the group's dive team co-ordinator.

The search continued with help from members of the Prince Albert Grand Council, which represents several First Nations in Saskatchewan, who found Constant's body on Thursday with the assistance of the local fire department, Maendel told CBC on Saturday.

The body was recovered downstream, close to where the truck broke through the ice, he said.

Maendel said search conditions improved when Manitoba Hydro brought more of its generating plant units back online.

The utility shut down units after the two went missing, out of fear the bodies could move into the plant's intakes, he said. But with more units now running, water flow has increased, causing more ice to melt.

"So there's a lot of open water again in the search area, which allows different boats to be used now," he said.

That means crews can also now use sonar scanning, he said.

With warmer weather forecast in the coming days, Maendel said crews should be able to search in a wider area.

"I can't imagine the suffering that's going on with the families of these victims, and it's imperative that we do everything we can to find them," he said.

Family holds out hope

Search crews have also found a phone believed to be Ferland's, Maendel said.

Ferland's sister told CBC News via text message all the family can do for now is "hope and pray the divers find her, like they did with Corbin."

Chief Cook believes crews will find her, based on what they have learned with Constant's search.

But a delay could complicate the recovery process, because there is a potential Manitoba Hydro might need to increase operations at the Grand Rapids Generating Station if temperatures plunge — changing the lake current and possibly moving the body away from the search area.

"We're hoping that we can find her before conditions change rapidly," Cook said.

Another concern at the moment is the safety of crews, who are determined to "keep searching … till she's found," said Maendel.

Cook is asking people to keep Misipawistik Cree Nation in their thoughts.

"We have people out there who have been working in dangerous conditions, and I don't want to put a call out for more people to enter," she said.

"We just have to pray that she's found."