Body of younger brother found in Nutimik Lake on fifth day of search

THE body of a 10-year-old boy — one of two brothers presumed drowned — has been recovered from Nutimik Lake.

Maximo Au Ramirez and his older brother Aaron Au Ramirez, 13, were visiting Whiteshell Provincial Park Saturday with their father when Maximo slipped off rocks and fell into the water. Aaron went in to try to save him.

On Wednesday evening, a social media post from the Nutimik Lake Lodge, which has been serving as a hub for many searchers and volunteers, posted a notice that said the 10-year-old’s body had been recovered.

“We will continue to search for his brother Aaron Au Ramirez,” said the post. “Please pray he will show himself soon.”

One of the owners at the lodge, Allison Baker-Thiessen, said the body was recovered around 7:30 p.m. on the east side of Sturgeon Falls.

“We are actually very happy. It’s a good sign of partial relief that we have,” she said, noting she went to comfort family members shortly after getting the news as many of them are involved in the search, including on the boat that recovered Maximo’s body.

“We’ve got seven boats out, including (the Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team.) And there’s another one coming for sure, trying to desperately find the older boy here.”

She said the search has been conducted daily from sunrise to sunset, with team members working incredibly hard. She said the recovery of the one boy has injected some hope into the search effort.

“They’re pushing very hard to get these boys home,” she said. “We’ve got one, now we’ve just got to find the other.”

She said at this time, the lodge has ample supplies, but said if the body of the older boy is not recovered Wednesday evening, they’ll need more volunteers and boats.

Lac du Bonnet RCMP confirmed the boy’s body had been found on the fifth day.

Searchers were using sonar systems to sweep the bottom of the lake.

Manuel Maendel, the founder of the Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team, and a team of four searchers have used a sonar and a remote-operated underwater vehicle since Sunday.

“I can see quite a few fishing boats around, people trying to see if there’s anything they can spot with their scopes. There’s quite a few people on shore and we’ve even seen airplanes flying,” Maendel said from his boat earlier Wednesday.

The Manitoba RCMP Underwater Recovery Team was also on the scene.

Baker-Thiessen has been feeding the volunteer crews and said she had to prepare extra Wednesday morning.

The Rosenort and Clandeboye fire departments have sent crews out to assist in the search.

Some cottagers offered their lakehouse as accommodation for searchers from the Turtle Island Aquatic Response, a specialized search-and-recovery team based out of Bunibonibee Cree Nation in northern Manitoba.

morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca