ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Minn. — Editor's Note: The above video first aired on 5/20/2024.
The search for two missing canoeists in the BWCA will continue with added resources after Governor Tim Walz authorized the Minnesota National Guard assist with both personnel and machinery.
Walz signed an emergency executive order on Thursday allowing the National Guard to provide a helicopter and four crew members for the search mission.
"We are praying for those involved and immensely grateful to everyone from the sheriff's office to the National Guard who are supporting this mission," said Walz in a release.
A massive search has been underway for 40-year-old Reis Melvin Grams, of Lino Lakes, and 41-year-old Jesse Melvin Haugen, of Cambridge, since Sunday morning.
The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office said a 911 caller contacted dispatchers from Iron Lake in the popular canoe wilderness area just before 7:30 p.m. to report a water emergency on Saturday night. The caller said two canoes had gone over Curtain Falls between Iron and Crooked Lakes, leaving one paddler badly injured and two others unaccounted for.
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