Rescuers responding to a report of a missing 39-year-old kayaker who had not returned from his Flathead Lake fishing trip found the man alive but extremely hypothermic late on Monday night.
According to Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Flathead County Search and Rescue and ALERT were dispatched to Somers Bay at about 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 27 after the kayaker’s family reported that he had not returned from a fishing trip.
Using night vision, the ALERT helicopter crew was able to find his overturned kayak between two islands in Somers Bay. Water teams recovered the boat and ground search teams combed the shorelines and the islands.
At about 11:30 p.m., searchers found the man on the shore. He was severely hypothermic after spending extended time in the water and on shore, Curry said, and was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center by helicopter.
He is currently listed in stable condition, Curry said.