YAKT, Mont. — Officials in northwestern Montana say a 50-year-old man from Victor, Idaho, died in a kayaking accident in the Yaak River over the weekend.
The kayaker, identified as Steven Koning, was on a trip with three other men when the accident happened Sunday.
According to Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short, the group was about three miles north of the Kootenay River when they encountered a stretch of rough water.
Koning fell out of his kayak, and disappeared underwater, officials say. The other members of the group attempted to reach the man, but lost sight of him in the river.
The sheriff's office received an SOS message from a GPS device in the river shortly after 12 p.m. One of the kayakers was able to make a 911 call shortly after, according to Short.
Deputies headed to the river, and were joined by David Thompson Search and Rescue, Troy Volunteer Ambulance, and Two Bear Air Rescue Searchers found Koning's body in the Kootenay River near the Idaho-Montana state line just after 3:30 p.m.
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