Elder’s body found under the ice
SASKATOON — A mix of emotions washed over the team of searchers when they realized they had finally found the body of elder Solomon Roberts under the thick ice of Otter Lake.
“Our prayers were finally answered, but it was sad and happy. The family was very thankful,” said Coun. Leon Charles of the Lac la Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB).
“Thank God they found him,” said LLRIB Chief Tammy Cook-Searson.
At 10:15 a.m. Saturday, 89 days after Roberts apparently fell through the ice while riding his snowmobile, searchers using a high-tech underwater camera believed they found a body. They manoeuvered a mechanical claw to grasp what proved to be Roberts’ leather jacket, still on his body.
The searchers hauled the body up near the surface. The search party included a host of local volunteers, including Roberts’ sons, Gordon and Scott, as well as his grandson, Ivan. Remotely operated vehicle pilot Craig Thorngren, who had taught the locals how to operate the equipment and was due to head home this week, was also there.
Before the body surfaced, Charles and others asked the family members to leave.
“We want you to remember him as he was, not the way he is now,” Charles told them.
With a large crowd from the nearby community of Grandmother’s Bay watching from the shore, and with wind chill pushing temperatures below -40 C, workers cut a three-by-two-metre hole in the metre-deep ice. It was the 106th hole they’d cut in their attempts to find the 66-year-old’s body.
A rope was tied around Roberts’ chest. He was raised onto the ice and placed in a body bag. Cree prayers were recited and he was taken in a multi-snowmobile procession to St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Grandmother’s Bay, four kilometres away.
The church, housed inside the Johnny McKenzie Memorial Building, had been a refuge for Roberts over the years. He could often be found there alone, playing the organ.
He was born and raised on a trap line, and may have been checking the ice or his traps when he fell through Nov. 12.
But he was no loner, Charles said. The married father of six children, a host of grandchildren and one great-grandchild was a tireless community volunteer.
At most community events, he worked long hours in the local school’s kitchen cooking mashed potatoes, white fish or soup. When he’d hear the assembled crowd in the gymnasium begin to sing, he’d be seen jogging into the room with his hymn book. After a song or two, he’d jog back to the kitchen to check on the meal.
Roberts’ body was found more than 500 metres from where he apparently fell into the water.
The team noticed some drag marks in the area over the weekend.
They realized an earlier search, likely with boats in November before freezeup, had actually located the body and unintentionally dragged it away from the scene.
They dropped the remotely operated vehicle into a hole and found Roberts shortly after. Thorngren, who has worked on recoveries following the Costa Concordia shipwreck and others around the world, said it was one of his most difficult cases.
“We weren’t sure for a while. Everyone has a different recollection. We just had to follow the clues,” he said.
Thorngren said his work is more than just a job.
“It was unbelievably emotional. This community has gone through a lot to try and find Solomon, but you never give up hope,” he said.
Thorngren and his American team had visited last year and were unsuccessful. The LLRIB bought one of the search machines and brought Thorngren back to train them to use it. Charles said it was expensive — estimating the cost in the tens of thousands of dollars — but worth it. He said the band will now offer to help other northern communities with searches.
Charles lauded the search team, as well as the volunteers and experts from other communities who helped them find Roberts.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much,” he said.
A wake is scheduled to take place in Grandmother’s Bay on Tuesday, with a funeral Wednesday.