At 11.30am [Sunday] the Chippewa County Sheriff's Department rec'd a call that a pontoon was resting up against the shoreline on Lake Wissota north of the Hydro Dam and it had apparently been there for sometime.
Responding Deputies located the pontoon north of the Hydro Dam with no one attending the unit.
A check of the registration showed that the pontoon registered to a male subject from Minnesota, contact was made with the mother of the owner of the boat who indicated that her son and a friend were boating on the Lake Saturday afternoon and failed to return to campground where they were all staying in Chippewa County.
The Sheriff's Dept. around 12:30pm rec'd a call from a person reporting that a rubber tube had been found near the buoy's at the Hydro Dam, upon retrieving the tube the person reported that a body was discovered attached to the rope of the tube.
Deputies responded to the location of the incident and retrieved the body of the suspected owner of the pontoon.
The Chippewa County Sheriff's Dept. along with the Chippewa Falls Fire District, the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources and other volunteers assisted in locating the second subject that was reported on the pontoon. The search continued into the evening hours with no success in locating the individual.
A search of the waterway will continue Monday morning in a attempt to locate the second missing subject. That subject is a 22 year old black, male, also from the State of MN.
Anyone who may have seen the pontoon on Lake Wissota Saturday afternoon and may have information helpful in our investigation is asked to contact the Chippewa County Sheriff's Dept. at 715-726-7701.
Per Chippewa County Sheriff James L Kowalczyk
Last Update: Aug 20, 2018 12:34 pm CDT
