Search teams recover missing man on Lake St. George
Search teams have recovered the body of a missing man who disappeared on Friday afternoon while on Lake St. George in Severn Township.
Catherine Garcia Fajardo has identified the man as her soon-to-be ex-husband and father of three children, Reinier Cespedes of Orillia.
"It’s very hard in particular for my children so they can’t understand what happened still so they ask me if their father is coming back home I say your father not coming back because it’s the truth," said Catherine Garcia Fajardo.
"The male was observed to go underwater. Rescue efforts were made but the male was not located," said Constable Brett Boniface with Orillia OPP.
Police say Cespedes was alone at the time in the lake.
A nearby resident who was not willing to appear on camera says she saw a neighbor jump on this kayak to try and save the man’s life.
"I could see his head and I called 9-1-1 and I told her what was going on I said I don’t don’t think I see his head anymore," said a resident.
Search and recovery teams spent most of the day scouring the lake looking for any sign of Cespedes.
On Tuesday, members of the OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit, with the assistance of the Orillia Detachment Marine Unit, located the body of the 32-year-old missing man.
He was pronounced deceased at the scene.
"The weather conditions obviously play a big role rain as well as wind conditions make it difficult for visibility as the water is moving with more varsity we also have issues with temperature," said Boniface.
Sadly, there were two other drownings in the area over the past weekend.
- Download the CTV News app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates sent to your email inbox
On Sunday, Bracebridge OPP and its underwater recovery unit recovered the body of a 31-year-old Toronto area man on Lake Muskoka near Taylor Island. Police say the man was kayaking at the time.
And on Saturday the body of an 81-year-old man was pulled from Meaford Harbour.
The police would like to remind everyone that the water temperature is still very cold and can pose a potential danger.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Latest updates on the major wildfires burning in Canada
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
Veteran TSN sportscaster Darren Dutchyshen has died
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
Toronto man killed his mother and decapitated her — but it wasn't murder, lawyers argue
A ‘lifetime of abuse’ led Dallas Ly to snap and repeatedly stab his mother inside their Leslieville apartment in 2022 but he never intended to kill her, his defence lawyers argued during at his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.
He had dreams of running for Canada in the Olympics, then he learned his family would be deported
A burgeoning track star says his dream of going to the Olympics is being derailed by a deportation order after Immigration officials rejected his family’s claim for asylum
Father charged with second-degree murder in daughter's stabbing death southwest of Montreal
A father has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 34-year-old daughter in southern Quebec.
Teen died from eating a spicy chip as part of social media challenge, autopsy report concludes
A medical examiner says a Massachusetts teen who participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge died from ingesting a substance 'with a high capsaicin concentration.'
Kidnapped by her father and kept in a crawl space: Court documents reveal Montreal horror story
A Montreal father who kidnapped his daughter who has autism and lied to police when they asked where she was should serve three years in prison, a Crown prosecutor said.
Ontario calls on Toronto to drop 'disastrous' drug decriminalization request
The province’s health minister and solicitor general are urging Toronto to rescind its request to decriminalize simple possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use, calling the proposal 'misguided' and 'disastrous.'
Trudeau calls New Brunswick's Conservative government a 'disgrace' on women's rights
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has "issues" with the Progressive Conservative government of New Brunswick.