Since Thursday, August 29, 2024, a 27-year-old man has been missing following a pedal boat trip to Lake Vouglans (Jura). On Monday, September 2, the search resumed. It is intensifying.
On Monday, September 2, significant resources were deployed to find Gaël, aged 27 and missing on Thursday, August 29, 2024 off the coast of Lake Vouglans (Jura). The gendarmes, around twenty, from Doubs, Jura and Côte-d’Or, the Saint-Jean de Losne brigade, used drones, sonar and divers to try to find the missing person.
Lake Vouglans covers an area of 16 km². Gaël was pedaling at Bellecin beach.
The young man was on vacation in the region on Thursday, August 29 with friends. He was on board a pedal boat, one of them. The latter reportedly fell asleep and when he woke up, Gaël was no longer on the boat. The childhood friend reportedly returned to shore. The rest of the group of friends reportedly asked him where Gaël was. They called the police directly. It was then around 9 p.m.
For three days, the police and firefighters have been combing an area of approximately 15,000 m² by boat. The searches are particularly difficult because of the lack of visibility at the bottom of the water. According to the police, the body is located between 10 and 65 meters deep.
On Monday, September 2, gendarmes from Doubs, Jura and Côte-d’Or used drones, sonar and divers to search for the missing person. The first searches began Friday afternoon, first on land and then in the water. The first dives began Saturday.
The missing person had still not been found by the end of the day on Monday. According to the police, a judicial investigation will be opened.
This is not the first time that pedal boat drownings have occurred in the region. In July 2023, a 25-year-old man disappeared in the same circumstances off the Clairvaux-les-lacs lake (Jura). After a few strokes, he disappeared from the sight of his friends. The body was found after 24 hours of searching.
The same scenario occurred in August 2023 at Lake Saint-Point (Doubs). The lifeless body of a 21-year-old man was found twelve days after his disappearance.
In 2021, a diver was found in the waters of Lake Vouglans nine months after his disappearance.
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