Calgary police, firefighters, volunteers search Bow River for dead bodies

The Bow River runs low and clear around this time of the year, which is why it’s also when Calgary’s firefighters, police, and Search and Rescue teams work together to search for missing people.

For the third year in a row, a full search of the Bow will be conducted by the Calgary Police Service (CPS) and the Calgary Fire Department, and this year the Calgary Search and Rescue Association (CALSARA) will also be lending a hand, according to a release from the Calgary Police Service.

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The teams will search from the skies by helicopter as well as on the ground and in the water. The river will be searched within the Calgary’s city limits, starting from Bearspaw Dam in northwest Calgary and moving south from there.

According to CPS Major Crimes Section Acting Inspector Paul Wozney, the police receive around 3,500 missing person reports annually.

“Most of those people are found, but there have been cases where people have voluntarily or involuntarily entered our waterways and have not been able to get out,”  he said in the release.

“The search is part of our due diligence to try to provide answers to families that may be missing their loved one.”

Calgary Fire Department Aquatic Rescue divers will be on hand if anything is spotted in the river.

While Calgary’s agencies search within the city limits, Alberta RCMP will also be surveying the Bow River via helicopter from the southern city limits and east towards the Saskatchewan border.

“Should any bodies be retrieved, CPS would work with the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the identity of the individual and ensure no criminal offence has been committed,” the release read.