Search suspended for 2 killed in canoe accident

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Emergency workers have suspended their search for two Bismarck men who died when a canoe capsized in Apple Creek east of Bismarck, officials said Saturday.

Cory Berger, 23, and James Hellman, 24, died in the Friday night incident at Apple Creek Country Club, Burleigh County Sheriff Pat Heinert said.

A third passenger, James M. Lynk, 21, was able to escape the water.

Emergency crews tried Saturday to recover the men's bodies from the swollen creek but called off the effort.

Heinert told the Bismarck Tribune that the bodies are lodged in a culvert under a submerged dam on the creek. Strong rapids flowing over the dam prevented the rescue workers from reaching the victims, he said.

“The treacherous water is what's really adding difficulty,” he said. “It's very dangerous at this point.”

Heinert said neither of the victims wore life jackets.

Members of the rescue team worked from a boat tethered to the shore and tried to reach the victims trapped in the water below them. The responders and their vehicles were set up on a low-lying, soggy part of the golf course while golfers played nearby.

The rescue team suspended its work about 3:30 p.m. and would not start again until after Sunday, said Sgt. Jim Hulm of the Sheriff's Department.

“We pretty much exhausted what we could do with that equipment,” Hulm said. “We'll be regrouping later this week and looking at alternative measures.”

Heinert said the creek was above 10 feet and usually overflows its banks at 9.4 feet. He said the water was between 2 and 12 feet deep and about 46 degrees.

Witnesses told authorities they saw the canoe with three people go nose-first down a cascading spillway and then flip over.

Two others were in kayaks but they left the water before reaching the dam, Heinert said.

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