Body found in Willamette ID’d as missing Bend canoeist

A body found Sunday in the Willamette River has been identified as a 73-year-old missing canoeist from Bend, Lane County sheriff’s deputies said Monday.

The sheriff’s office had received a report the evening of May 28 of a man in the river yelling for help near the Hayden Bridge boat ramp, Sgt. Carrie Carver said Monday in a news release. An overturned canoe was found nearby.

In the recovered canoe, deputies found the ID for Donald Girardi, 73, of Bend. His vehicle also was found at a nearby boat launch, and family members said he had left to take the canoe out on the water, the sergeant said.

Sheriff’s Marine Patrol deputies and Search and Rescue looked for Girardi for several days with boats and divers but did not find him, Carver said.

Shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday, a boater spotted a man’s body in the water, about a mile upriver from the Marshall Island boat landing. The Sheriff’s Office Dive Team helped recover the man, identified as Girardi, Carver said.

The sheriff’s and medical examiner’s offices are investigating Girardi’s death, but Carver said, “There is no indication of foul play at this time.”