Ottawa

Quebec police suspend search for missing rafter in Grenville-sur-la-Rouge

Police are calling off the search for a 29-year-old woman missing since falling into the water during a white water rafting trip on the Rouge River in western Quebec on June 1. She's believed to have drowned.

Police believe the 29-year-old woman has drowned

police cars parked in a gravel lot
The intensive search for a 29-year-old woman missing since falling from a raft on the Rouge River in western Quebec on Sunday has involved all-terrain vehicles, drones, Jet Skis and a helicopter. (Georges-Etienne Nadon-Tessier/Radio-Canada)

Quebec provincial police plan to end their search for a 29-year-old woman missing since falling into the Rouge River during a rafting trip on Sunday. 

Police believe the woman drowned, despite wearing a life jacket and helmet when she fell from the raft for "no apparent reason" on Sunday afternoon.

"All signs point to a drowning," Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Marc Tessier told Radio-Canada, speaking in French.

Despite an intensive search involving divers, all-terrain vehicles, drones, Jet Skis, a helicopter and staff from the tour operator guiding the whitewater rafting trip, no sign of the woman has been found. Police plan to end the search on Wednesday.

A hand-painted sign for Rafting Nouveau Monde
The owner of Rafting Nouveau Monde said there was nothing out of the ordinary about the June 1 rafting trip until the woman fell into the water and never emerged. (Georges-Etienne Nadon Tessier / Radio-Canada)

The missing woman had been on an excursion run by Rafting Nouveau Monde, which guides about 20,000 clients annually, according to owner Gilles Talbot. 

He said the company, located about 100 kilometres east of Ottawa, has never had a comparable incident in 45 years in business. 

The company's operations have been suspended until further notice. "We are focusing all our efforts on the search," Talbot said on Monday.

Sunday's trip "was completely normal" before the woman fell from the raft and "never came out," Talbot said. Despite a safety team on the bank per the company's protocol, the woman was never seen again. 

Police have not released further details about the missing woman's identity.