BOATERS MISSING

[Sher]

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE -- Search-and-rescue workers were looking for two boaters yesterday who disappeared near the Brazeau River Dam in west-central Alberta after their vessel hit a sandbar.

A third person in a separate craft was injured and taken to hospital in Edmonton, RCMP said. The operator of the second boat was not seriously hurt and was assisting with the search.

It is believed the two boats were travelling together.

RCMP officers, fire department workers and a dive team were also participating in the search in the area northwest of Rocky Mountain House.

AS INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE, I WILL UPDATE

[Sher]

CALGARY -- The massive underwater search for one of two Drayton Valley men who drowned while boating near Rocky Mountain House has been called off.

Several recovery teams were searching for the body of 39-year-old Lance O'Byrne, presumed dead after the jet boat he was in hit a sandbar and flipped in the Brazeau Reservoir Wednesday evening.

Dozens of searchers using dive equipment, boats and aircraft helped locate the boat Saturday under about 10 metres of water in the reservoir, about 70 km northwest of Rocky Mountain House.

The body of Travis Wentland, 34, was recovered soon after.

While life-jackets were on the boat at the time of the crash, neither of the men wore them, said RCMP Sgt. Jan Lipscombe of the Rocky Mountain House detachment, 219 km southwest of Edmonton.

Police said two boats were travelling together when the mishap took place.

The lone male in the second boat suffered only minor injuries.

While the underwater search for O'Byrne has been terminated, cops said an aerial search using Mountie aircraft will continue for the next several days.