Missing man from canoe found dead in reeds

The body of the missing man who was last seen in an inflatable canoe with a friend last Friday in South Australia has been found.

The body of the man who went missing last week after the inflatable canoe he was in capsized in waters off Lake Alexandrina in South Australia has been found.

Members of the water operations unit and sea rescue squadron began searching for a fifth day on Thursday, leaving from the Milang Boat ramp using jet skis at 8am.

Just after 11am, sea rescue squadron members on a hovercraft found the man’s body among reeds off Lake Reserve Road at Mulgundawa, about 25km east of Milang.

A report is now being prepared for the Coroner.

SA Police say there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.

A search was conducted over the Milang area for the man who went missing off an inflatable canoe. Picture: John Baker

“Police wish to thanks all the local volunteers that assisted in the search in the last week,” the force said in a statement.

Authorities began looking for the 31-year-old Brahma Lodge man just before 11.30am on November 27 after two men were reported missing.

One of the missing men, a 19-year-old from Elizabeth Vale, was located and treated for hyperthermia.

The canoe was also found inflated, with the oars and sunglasses belonging to the two men, about 2km offshore and 7.8km east of where the men set off from Sheoak Road, north of Milang.

SA Police said they held “grave concerns” for the man on Saturday.

Superintendent Gus Sickerdick said police did not ‘hold high hopes’ of finding the man alive. Picture: Mike Burton

At the time, Acting Superintendent Gus Sickerdick said there were gusty winds that blew the men out towards the centre of the lake.

“Even though we don’t hold high hopes, we will continue (searching) for as long as we can,” he said.

The search was postponed for the past two days due to poor weather conditions.