The typical levity of Seneca River Day was marred Saturday by a kayak accident a quarter of a mile from the festivities.
Two kayakers, who remained unidentified at press time, were fishing on the river on the west side of the bridge around 11 a.m. June 13 when one of the kayaks hit the dam. The hydraulic current caused the boat to capsize, and the man went under the water. The second kayaker paddled over to assist the first, but he, too, was caught in the river’s strong current and capsized.
Onlookers called 911 and several fire departments, police departments and dive crews responded, as did the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department’s Air-1 helicopter rescue team.
The boaters were last seen in the water west of the bridge. The sheriff’s office said it appeared neither kayaker was wearing a personal flotation device at the time of the accident. It was believed that one of the kayakers was trapped in the dam’s hydraulic current, while the other may have been carried downstream.
Throughout Saturday afternoon, law enforcement officers and residents lined the bridge on the Seneca River, searching for the missing kayakers. The search went on throughout the weekend; at press time, neither man had been found and both are presumed to have drowned.
Tuesday morning, a resident called 911 to report a body on the shore of the Seneca River in the 3300 block of Hayes Road. Sheriff Gene Conway could not confirm whether the body was one of the missing kayakers.
UPDATE: The bodies of Robert Mead, 27, of Syracuse, and Joseph Mead, 27, of Liverpool, were discovered in the Seneca River on Tuesday, June 16. For more details, click here.
“We’re using any of these resources that we have to try to bring this situation to some closure and locate these two people,” OCSO Det. Katie Kruger said at the scene Saturday.
North West Fire District Chief Tom Perkins said Saturday that the rescue efforts had become a recovery operation.
While the river appeared tranquil along Mercer Park on Saturday, the sheriff’s office closed Lock 24 around 9 p.m. June 12, issuing a travel advisory shortly thereafter for the Erie Canal system due to high water levels, along with significant amounts of floating debris, caused by recent rains. That was escalated to a prohibition on all motorized traffic on the canal system from Cross Lake to Oneida Lake Sunday morning.
High water levels had already forced changes to some of the previously scheduled Seneca River Day events. The Baldwinsville Rotary Club announced June 11 that Saturday’s “Anything that Floats” boating contest had been canceled because of the river’s dangerous levels. Instead, the club held a “Nothing That Floats” photo contest since many participants had already built their crafts.
After the kayak accident Saturday morning, the Seneca River Day events scheduled to take place on Paper Mill Island were moved to Mercer Park, where many of the revelers seemed largely oblivious to the events at the bridge. Organizers, however, were well aware of the rescue efforts going on just down the street.
“Because of the current rescue efforts on the Seneca River in Baldwinsville, the Rotary Club of Baldwinsville has decided to move all Paper Mill Island events that are part of today’s Seneca River Day to Mercer Park. Efforts are under way to keep all events as promoted, just at Mercer Park instead,” said Lizzy Flynn-Brown of the Baldwinsville Rotary Club in a statement. “We do not want to interfere with the rescue efforts, which have a command center right at the island entrance.”
Seneca River Day’s annual duck race, which had been scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, was modified to a “duck pluck” in which children chose the winning ducks. The $1,000 first prize went to Lejla Catay of Liverpool.
At press time, law enforcement officials continued their efforts to find the missing men; they are also asking residents in the area to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
“The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone in the area of the Seneca River between the village of Baldwinsville and the Onondaga Lake outlet to please call 911 if you see anything unusual,” said Sheriff’s Information Officer Det. Jon Seeber in a release.
