REGIONAL- The search for two canoeists who have been missing since their canoe plunged over Curtain Falls on May 18 is now getting additional resources from the Minnesota National Guard. At the request of St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay, Gov. Tim Walz authorized the National Guard to aid the search by transporting additional equipment to the search site on the U.S.-Canadian border within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
The paddlers were part of an experienced party of four who accidentally went over the turbulent Curtain Falls in two canoes while fishing. Two of the canoeists were rescued but the other two remain missing. They have been identified as Jesse Haugen, 41, of Cambridge, and Reis Grams, 40, of Lino Lakes.
“No one expects their vacation to turn to crisis. Yet, when four canoeists went over Curtain Falls in the BWCA, this became a reality,” said Gov. Walz, whose brother Craig was killed while camping in the BWCAW in 2016.
 “My family is intimately familiar with the fear and heartbreak these canoeists are feeling. 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.”
The National Guard provided a CH-47 “Chinook” helicopter and four crew members to airlift the sheriff’s office’s new Swiftwater jet boat and other heavy equipment to the rescue squad’s base camp.
According to St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office Commander Nate Skelton, the round-the-clock search effort currently has had between eight to 12 personnel at the search site. The personnel on site are currently sheriff’s deputies or members of the sheriff’s office rescue squad. The search effort continues to be supported by the Superior National Forest’s Beaver aircraft and pilots from the Ely seaplane base.
Skelton said the search team has boats, canoes, and remotely operated vehicles, which are mini-submarines equipped with underwater cameras. The searchers are also using drones and sonar.
The search has been hampered by high water levels at Curtain Falls, which separates Crooked and Iron lakes. The search personnel also were impacted last week by multiple days of intermittent rain and swarms of black flies.