WINNIPEG -- One person is dead and another missing after a car was swept away while trying to cross the flooded Woody River in the RM of Minitonas north of Swan River.
After being called with the report of an elderly Birch River couple who were late arriving at their son's residence Sunday evening, Swan River RCMP initiated a search of the area but darkness forced them to stop until morning.
Late yesterday morning, searchers located the couple's unoccupied vehicle about 500 metres from a shallow-water crossing or ford on the river about 24 km northeast of Swan River.
Police said the couple's car was swept away by the flooded river. The couple had been travelling to their son's home south of Birch River yesterday evening.
The RCMP, members of the Swan River and Birch River fire departments, family and members of the public continued to conduct a ground and aerial search for the couple on the river and it banks.
The body of the 79-year-old female was located in the river late yesterday afternoon but the search continued on the river for the 82-year-old male into the evening.
"The terrain is very rough and the banks are steep, so it made the ground search difficult," said RCMP media relations officer Sgt. Line Karpish.
Karpish said a local pilot volunteered to help with the search effort.
"People like that, we rely on the community to help," Karpish said. "There's no way to mobilize that quickly without local people's help. We want to extend thanks for that." An autopsy was scheduled to be conducted at Brandon Hospital.
RCMP did not release names of the couple yesterday.
Karpish advises drivers to take extra care during flooding.
"Obviously people have to use extreme caution right now," Karpish said. "It's one thing to have water over a roadway, but the problem is the currents are very strong right now with flooding and can easily grab a vehicle and sweep it into much deeper water. If at all possible, people should use detours to avoid water on roadways."
Birch River is about 40 km north of Swan River.
jason.halstead@sunmedia.ca
