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Senior Constable Robert LaFreniere #7333 Media Relations
Officer Peterborough County OPP 705-742-0401
Pager: 416-945-9878 bob.lafreniere@jus.gov.on.ca
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| Copper Lake, North Kawartha Sunday night,
August 24th, O.P.P. received a call about three missing persons: Rick Dellow,
45, his 15-year-old son, Adam Dellow (both of Toronto) and 12-year-old Trent
Lais of Sarnia. The three had gone out on an evening fishing trip and had
not returned to their hunt camp by 9 p.m. as expected. A canoeist happened upon the three Monday around dawn. Two O.P.P. officers travelled by ATV to their hunt camp at Copper Lake in North Kawartha Township and learned that the fishers’ 12-foot aluminum boat had capsized. All three were wearing life jackets and swam to an island. They recovered their boat and motor, but it had gotten late so they decided to spend the night on the island. Drowning at Burleigh Falls A gathering of friends has ended in tragedy. On Sat.Aug.30th around 5:30 p.m., emergency services attended at Old Burleigh Road, Burleigh Falls. Vijayaram Sathananthan, 25, and Bantharakanthan Ratnakuperan, 21, both of Markham and both poor swimmers, had entered the water for a swim. Just 7-8 meters from shore, at a depth of 2-3 meters, they found themselves in distress. A third Markham man with the group and also a poor swimmer, Nishanthan Rajesparam, 24, tried to assist. Bystanders managed to pull Sathanthan to safety with a fishing rod. Ratnakuperan and Rajesparam disappeared beneath the surface. Nearby scuba divers Nick Weatherilt and Kim Vandie, both 20 and of the Millbrook area came to assist. Weatherilt located both bodies and pulled them to shore, then called 9-1-1. Vandie located 18-year-old Warren Barnes of Pickering, who started C.P.R. Barnes revived Ratnakuperan, but neither he nor paramedics could save the man who had tried to save his friends. He was pronounced dead at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre at 6:30 p.m. The efforts of Nick WEATHERILT, Kim VANDIE and Warren BARNES are considered instrumental in saving the life of Ratnakuperan, who is now off life-support and in recovery at Mount Sinai Hospital. There is some evidence to suggest that alcohol consumption played a role in this tragedy. The investigation continues. Break Enter and Theft Subjects Arrested Two young males were arrested on Sept 9th by Barrie Police Service for Possession of Stolen Property in regard to Break Enter and Thefts in North Kawartha Township. The subjects are alleged to be responsible for the thefts of: an automobile, two ATVs several break and enters and the theft of gasoline in North Kawartha. The suspects, aged 14 & 16 years, were returned to Peterborough County and held in custody for court on Sept 10th, 2003 and cannot be identified. |
Correction: On Fri. Aug.15th 2003, around
1:15 p.m., a motor vehicle collision on Hwy # 28 claimed the life of Donna
E. Beattie, 51 of R. R. # 6 Cambridge.
Based on information at the time, it was initially stated in an O.P.P. news , dated Aug.15th, " the driver of the car swerved into the northbound lane to avoid striking the ladder ". At the conclusion of the investigation it was determined that Donna Beattie swerved to the right,onto the west gravel shoulder, to avoid striking the ladder that had fallen from a truck. The Beattie car spun out of control and crossed the centre line of the highway into the path of a northbound passenger van. The same news media release also claimed the collision to be a " head-on collision ". The collision report refers to the impact type as ' Approaching '. The most severe damage was concentrated on the driver's side front end & centre, refered to as ' Left centre ' on the collision report. Senior Constable Robert LaFreniere, Ptb. County O.P.P. Media Relations Officer, the author of both the August 15 news media release and this news media release, apolgizes to the Beattie family for any additional stress this may have caused during their time of grief. |
Links:
Other Pages in The Apsley Voice for October / November, 2003 ...
Page 1: Our Reeve's Parting Remarks