The body of Andrew “Andy” Ward of Durango was discovered under 36 feet of water about 11 p.m. Saturday at Lake Nighthorse.
A search for Ward, 60, had begun Friday evening when his empty canoe was discovered on the lake.
“We don’t know what led him to be out of the canoe, and we don’t know when he exited the canoe. He was not wearing a life jacket,” said Durango Police Department Sgt. Nick Stasi.
It did not appear that the canoe had capsized, he said.
The body was discovered by the Marine Evidence Recovery Team of Colorado Parks and Wildlife headquartered in Littleton. The team had been called to assist in the search for Ward.
The team arrived at Lake Nighthorse around 7 p.m. Saturday and began searching the lake, Stasi said.
Stasi said Ward is an experienced outdoors recreationist, and he believed Ward was taking the canoe on its maiden voyage.
The body was discovered near the dam on Lake Nighthorse, which has a surface area of 1,490 acres.
Ron Corkish, with La Plata County Search and Rescue, said the Marine Evidence Recovery Team used a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, shaped like a torpedo with its own high-definition cameras and illumination lights to discover the body.
“They prefer doing searches at night. It cuts down on glare. It just amazed me, how good the equipment is, and unfortunately they do enough of these that they get to be really good,” he said.
The cause of death has not been determined. La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith said an autopsy will be preformed Thursday morning.
Ward was last seen at the boat launch at Lake Nighthorse around 1:30 p.m. Friday. He had a green canoe and was by himself, Stasi said.
The empty canoe was reported floating on the lake around 7 p.m. Friday.
Stasi said La Plata Search and Rescue assisted by scouring the perimeter of the lake, which led to the discovery of a paddle, and that allowed teams to narrow their search area on the lake.
Multiple local, state and federal agencies assisted.
About 16 hours into the search, 21 people were canvassing the shoreline and lake surface with the help of canines, Corkish said.
In addition, Flight For Life and the U.S. Forest Service provided search helicopters.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
