Body Of Missing Kayaker Recovered from The Merrimack River

UPDATE 2: 3:44 p.m. on June 14, 2019: Concord Fire Chief Dan Andrus has confirmed that the body of a kayaker, missing since Thursday morning, has been recovered from the Merrimack River on Friday afternoon by New Hampshire Fish & Game and Marine Patrol. The man is reported a Merrimack resident. More details will be posted soon.

UPDATE 1: 1:01 p.m. on June 13, 2019: Concord Fire and Rescue team units searching for a missing kayaker are returning to normal operations after six hours and no luck finding a missing kayaker. New Hampshire Fish & Game and Marine Patrol units are continuing the search, according to Concord Fire Chief Dan Andrus. Two kayaks were located in the middle of the river earlier today and are believed to be the ones used by the two kayakers who entered the river this morning, Andrus noted.

The original story is below:

CONCORD, NH — Search and rescue teams are along the Merrimack River Thursday morning attempting to find a kayaker who was lost after his boat capsized. According to Concord Fire Chief Dan Andrus, two kayakers were boating down the river when they lost control of their kayaks. One of the kayakers was able to get to a rock and then, swim to shore, where he called 911.

The call came in at just after 7 a.m. on June 13, 2019, and firefighters and police officers were sent to Second Street at the Sewalls Falls Recreation Area to set up a command center. Bow and Pembroke water rescue were also called to the scene. Bow later moved to the Everett Arena and were joined by a Hooksett team to begin the search north.

The search teams made a quick rapid search but found nothing, according to Andrus. Other teams joined in the search including New Hampshire State Police with aircraft as well as Fish & Game and Marine Patrol.

Andrus stated that some debris and some of the belongings of the kayaker who was able to get to shore have been found but not the missing kayaker. When asked if they knew yet why they capsized, Andrus said he didn't.

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"We are primarily focused on identifying the point last seen and focusing our efforts there," he said. "We continue to search."

At post time, the missing kayaker had not been found.

A number of fire departments from around the region are covering Concord during the search.

Concord NH Patch will update this post when more information becomes available.