The body of a
missing canoeist was recovered on Sunday from Long Lake by a private
consulting firm, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources is reporting.
According to the
DNR, shortly after 12 p.m. Tom Crossman of the Duluth, Minn., firm Crossman
Consulting notified officials that the body of Keegan Whaling, 20, had been
found at the north end of Long Lake, approximately 60 yards off shore in
around eight feet of heavily weeded water.
Whaling’s body was
subsequently recovered at 2:30 p.m. Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said
that an autopsy and routine toxicology screen were scheduled for today to
determine the cause and manner of death, but the DNR has previously said
that foul play is not suspected.
Crossman Consulting
was cleared by the DNR to conduct search efforts after being sought out by
the Whaling family.
Whaling and a
companion were canoeing at 7 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, when their craft became
unstable in the water and capsized. His companion managed to make shore but
Whaling himself was last seen in the water. The DNR, with the assistance of
numerous area fire departments, undertook multiple searches of Long Lake in
the weeks since but those efforts were hampered by heavy vegetation in the
water.