The body of a 62-year-old Minnesota man was found partly submerged in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in the northern part of the state on Friday.
The man, identified as Mark Ham, was discovered by canoeists around 5 p.m. who called 911, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Ham, who wasn’t wearing a life jacket, had been canoeing by himself, his family told law enforcement. A life jacket was found at the scene.
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A lake within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“With the opening of the Minnesota fishing season this weekend, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office and Rescue Squad would like to remind everyone to please wear their life jackets while out on the water enjoying their favorite water recreations this summer,” the department said in a release.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office and Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office are investigating Ham’s death.
A Canoeist in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in 2019. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Ham lived in Duluth.
His death comes a week after a 20-year-old man drowned while trying to save a 23-year-old old woman while they had been hiking around a lake near Chattanooga, Tennessee, on April 29.
A canoe in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Mark Ham, 62, lived in Duluth, Minnesota. (Jeffrey Phelps/Getty Images)
Drowning is a leading cause of unintentional death, and 80% of drowning deaths are men, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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The Boundary Waters Canoe Area is near the border with Ontario, Canada, about 25 miles north of Ely, Minnesota.
