The body of a kayaker who had been missing since Tuesday night was recovered from the Fox River Thursday morning, according to the St. Charles Fire Department.
A man’s body was recovered Thursday morning after a person called 911 at about 5:58 a.m., according to a news release from the fire department Thursday. The body was located in the river near the Great Western Trail Bridge in St. Charles and has been positively identified as the kayaker who went missing.
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Officials have not yet released the name of the kayaker.
On Tuesday at about 9:36 p.m., the fire department responded to a call of a person in the water in the Fox River near Ferson Creek, according to the fire department.
Upon arrival at the scene, first responders initiated a coordinated water rescue operation, with assistance from 29 area fire departments, officials said.
Deploying divers and boats with specialized sonar and scan search equipment, crews searched until about 5 a.m., the release said.
Search operations resumed at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday and transitioned from rescue to recovery, according to the fire department. The search efforts concluded for the day at 4:30 p.m., with the individual not yet found, officials said.
On Thursday morning, the body was located and recovered from the Fox River, and identified as the missing kayaker.
The recovery efforts included using side and sector scan sonar technology, search-and-rescue dogs, fire department dive teams and underwater rovers, the fire department said.
In total, the St. Charles Fire Department and other agencies conducted a search spanning nearly 20 hours over the course of two days, a news release from the fire department said. In addition to the numerous fire departments that responded, the St. Charles police and Emergency Management Agency, Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police, Kane County Sheriff’s Office, Kane County Office of Emergency Management and volunteer groups provided support in the search and recovery efforts, officials said.
The incident is continuing to be investigated by the IDNR Conservation Police and the Kane County Coroner’s Office, the fire department said on Thursday. The fire department is urging anyone with information about the incident to contact the IDNR Office of Law Enforcement at 217-782-6431.
“This was a complex operation led by St. Charles Fire Chief Jeremy Mauthe and the St. Charles Fire Department,” said St. Charles Mayor Clint Hull in a press release Thursday. “I appreciate their professionalism and the seamless inter-agency cooperation provided by first responder agencies across the region. We extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends and all who have been affected by this tragic incident.”