Two bodies recovered in Ottawa River last week

Two bodies were pulled from the Ottawa River last week in two separate incidents, with one being ruled a suicide and the other still in the early stages of identifying the body.

The first incident occurred on Tuesday, July 19, when the Hawkesbury detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) was called to the Long-Sault Bridge at 10:41 p.m.

"Somebody saw someone climbing the side of the bridge, either the wall or the fencing, and turned around to go and see," said Const. Pierre Dubois, noting the person allegedly appeared depressed or distressed.

By the time the caller turned his car around, that person had disappeared, at which point Dubois said the detachment "had reason to believe the person had jumped in the water from the Long-Sault Bridge" and therefore initiated a marine search.

Officers patrolled the area to no avail that night and the following day, the OPP marine unit and a helicopter were called in to assist with the search and survey the area.

"The body was found eventually near Chute-à-Blondeau, near the red buoy," Dubois said. "We were able to retrieve the body and it was sent for a post-mortem. Technically, the investigation is still ongoing but as of now, it is ruled as a suicide."

The body was that of a 48-year-old man from Hawkesbury.

Body pulled from Rouge River

Police in Quebec were also searching the Ottawa River last week, after a body was spotted in the vicinity of the Rouge River last Thursday, July 21 around 7 p.m.

According to the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), officers pulled the body from the river around 10:50 p.m. that night.

"The body was floating in the middle of the Ottawa River at the height of the Rouge River, in the area near the Grenville-sur-la-Rouge marina," Sgt. Eloise Cossette told The Review. "A Sûreté du Québec boat was necessary to pull the body from the water."

However, the body was in such a state that it was "impossible" to identify the victim's identity, or whether the person was a male or a female.

An autopsy was scheduled for last Friday, though Cossette suggested it could be another two weeks before more definitive information was available.