Body of Missing Kayaker from Polson Found in Flathead Lake

The body of a 43-year-old kayaker from Polson who had been missing on Flathead Lake for nearly a week has been found, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday.

At about 2:45 p.m. Friday, a Two Bear Helicopter crew located a body just south of Big Bull Island on the southern end of Flathead Lake. Lake and Flathead County sheriff’s deputies who had been searching the lake were able to recover the body and then send it to the crime lab in Missoula where it was identified as Robert W. McDonald.

McDonald, a physician at St. Joseph Hospital in Polson, had gone kayaking from the Bear Harbor Condominiums on July 19 and had not been seen since. He was reported missing soon after.

Don’t worry, we’ll always be free.

But continued community support is what makes our reporting possible. Please consider a one-time or recurring gift to help sustain independent journalism in northwest Montana. Every donation is injected straight into the newsroom.

Thanks so much for backing us over all these years.

I’ll Support Your Work