Police Lights. MWC file photo
LAC du FLAMBEAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – The search for a Lake Geneva man who disappeared while boating on Whitefish Lake ended Saturday when his body was recovered 38 feet under water.
Kyle Ascheman, 45, was vacationing with his family in Lac du Flambeau when he went missing Thursday evening. He was last seen operating a small boat with an outboard motor on the lake sometime before 8 p.m.
About half an hour later, a concerned citizen spotted his unmanned boat traveling in tight circles on the lake and contacted law enforcement. The Lac du Flambeau Tribal Police Department and Tribal Conservation Law Department responded to the scene.
Fearing Ascheman had been ejected from the vessel, officers and the 911 caller began an immediate search of the lake. The Lac du Flambeau officers quickly requested assistance from neighboring law enforcement and EMS agencies, and personnel from throughout northern Wisconsin joined the effort.
The search continued until midnight Thursday and resumed Friday morning. Specially trained search and rescue dogs, underwater drones, aerial drones and highly sensitive sonar equipment were deployed as search efforts escalated.
Although Ascheman was not found Friday, the search was narrowed significantly in the late evening hours with the use of specialized equipment operated by Wisconsin DNR personnel.
All assisting agencies returned to Whitefish Lake Saturday morning to resume the search. Within hours, the Wisconsin DNR’s sonar equipment located his body. Because lake bed conditions and poor visibility impeded recovery efforts, the Oneida Dive Team was contacted for assistance. With the help of the divers, the body was raised to the surface and recovered.
The Ascheman family and the Lac du Flambeau Tribal Police Department thanked the Lac du Flambeau Fire and Ambulance Department, Vilas County Sheriff’s Department, Wisconsin DNR, Oneida County Sheriff’s Department, Oneida Dive Team, Newbold Fire Department, Boulder Junction Fire Department, St. Germain Fire Department, Minocqua Fire Department, Woodruff Fire Department, Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Commission, Lac du Flambeau Tribal Roads Department, Lac du Flambeau Tribal Emergency Management, Lac du Flambeau Tribal Conservation Law Department and the Lac du Flambeau Tribal Victim Services Coordinator.
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