The Glacier County Sheriff’s Office recovered the body of a female who went missing in Mission Lake near Cut Bank in November.
Authorities discovered the body of Fuki Nishibayashi of Japan on Feb. 17. Nishibayashi has been missing since late November, when she and two other people went missing after a weekend fishing trip on Mission Lake. Officers say the three either went through the ice or were blown into open water after winds gusted up to 55 mph. The body of 63-year-old Kazuhiko Hayashizaki was recovered from the lake Nov. 26.
A Customs and Border Protection helicopter was on a routine air operations flight when crews spotted the body in an ice column on the lake. The sheriff’s office dispatched deputies to the lake along with responding units from Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services, Blackfeet Homeland Security, Cut Bank Volunteer Fire Department and the U.S. Border Patrol.
The cause of death remains under investigation. Foul play is not suspected, according to authorities.
The body of Danny Heyland, another member of the fishing trip who went through the ice, remains missing.