Body of missing man found in Hants County lake

The body of a missing 83-yearold fisherman was located by RCMP officers and firefighters in the wee morning hours of Thursday.

The Lockhartville resident, whose name is not being released at this time, was located in Davidson Lake shortly before 3 a.m. Firefighters were initially called to aid in the search around 12:45 a.m.

“Because of the nature of the call and the details – it was a male who had been missing from a fishing trip and possibly fishing at the lake – we decided we would get Windsor and Brooklyn started out with their RTVs and Windsor’s boat just in case we had to launch it for a water search,” said Paul Maynard, Hantsport’s deputy fire chief.

“It took a bit to access the area. It’s basically what I’d call a logging road that we had to get up. The off-road vehicles from Windsor and Brooklyn proved to be a great asset for us to get up and access the sites with the crews.”

Maynard said the deceased man’s family knew where he had planned to fish that day, which helped firefighters and RCMP officers quickly locate the vehicle and narrow down the search area.

“The RCMP asked us to begin a shoreline search while ground search and rescue was mustering their resources,” said Maynard.

While the search was underway, Maynard said the man was located and brought to shore.

“We did attempt a resuscitation effort in coordination with the paramedics that were on scene from EHS. He was declared deceased on scene shortly after,” said Maynard.

The incident was then turned back over the RCMP, who launched an investigation. In a press release issued Thursday, RCMP said an autopsy will be conducted by the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner’s Office, and indicated foul play is not suspected.

About 40 firefighters were involved with the call.

Davidson Lake is a popular fishing spot, and also serves as a source of water for the municipality.