An autopsy revealed the body found in the South Saskatchewan River Thursday evening was of a 25-year-old man from Saskatoon.
Saskatoon police say foul play was not involved and the man is not believed to be a missing person.
“We had no missing person report and he did not match the description of any of the people who was believed to enter the water recently,” Kelsie Fraser, a spokesperson with the Saskatoon Police Service, said.
The body was found unexpectedly by Saskatoon fire crews on Thursday evening. The Saskatoon Fire Department was conducting its annual water rescue training on the South Saskatchewan River when crews came across the body.
As part of the training exercise, the water rescue team takes pictures of the bottom of the South Saskatchewan River using side-scanning sonar technology.
When the crew brought the images back to the fire station for analysis, an object resembling a body could be seen. The dive team went back to the river at around 5:30 p.m. and found a body about 20 feet beneath the surface near the Broadway Bridge.
“It took about an hour to pinpoint what we believed was a person in the water,” Saskatoon Fire Chief Morgan Hackl said.
The body was pulled out of the river around 7 p.m.
Hackl said the dive team faced challenges getting to the body.
“It took four different tries to get the boat in the proper position for the dive,” Hackl said, adding the swift waters caused a visibility barrier for divers.
Police say the 25-year-old man’s family has been notified, but they will not be releasing his identity.
The investigation is currently in the hands of Saskatchewan’s chief coroner’s office.
— based on a report by Stephanie Villella
