Missing boater found

An Airway Heights man who went missing early Tuesday morning after falling from a boat on Fernan Lake has been found.

Jesse A. Bishop, 60, was located Friday around 4:15 p.m. by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office’s Sonar Team, with the assistance of search dogs, in 5 to 7 feet of water. The Dive Rescue team responded and recovered Bishop from the lake bottom. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the actual cause of death.

Another man, Nathaniel Storch, 19, of Spokane Valley, was reportedly in the 10-foot aluminum boat with Bishop, moving camping gear across the lake, when both men went into the water sometime before daylight Tuesday. The Sheriff’s Office reported the vessel capsized because it was overloaded.

Storch, who was wearing a life jacket, was able to swim to shore. Bishop, with no life jacket, was last seen in the water.

Per the Sheriff’s Office, this is still an active investigation and more information will be released when it becomes available.