The body of the kayaker, missing from Trois-Rivières since last Thursday, was found late Tuesday afternoon near Lotbinière, about 70 km from the search site.
The Trois-Rivières police confirmed in the evening that the body of Pierre Couture was found by a boater in the Lotbinière sector after sailing down the Saint Lawrence River. He was rescued shortly afterwards by police officers from the Sûreté du Québec.
“We can confirm that it is indeed the body of Mr. Pierre Couture, in particular the clothing does not correspond to the last video footage of the victim before he was placed in the water,” the police said via press release.
Mr Couture was reported missing on Friday evening, more than a day and a half after he launched his kayak into the water at the Maïkan Aventure outdoor center. The search for him was carried out on Saturday morning on the Saint-Maurice river.
The 65-year-old man’s kayak was found by employees of Groupe Océan Construction on Saturday morning, but they did not know that a kayaker was missing. When they learned of this, they notified the police, who shifted their search to that stretch of the river, very close to the mouth of the St. Lawrence.
People close to Mr. Couture described the man to TVA Nouvelles as an experienced kayaker. They found it difficult to explain how he could lose his life like this.
Police are continuing their investigation to better understand the circumstances that led to Mr. Couture’s death.