Update:
Emergency services have found a body on the banks of the Grand River.
Waterloo Regional Police, Ontario Provincial Police, Cambridge Fire Department, and Kitchener Fire Department were all called to the area of Old Mill Road – which is west of the Doon Valley Golf Course – where what was believed to be a body was spotted in the river.
Emergency services were able to confirm it was a deceased individual.
Search crews have been scouring the area since they received a report Saturday night of two persons in distress while boating.
"Police are still working on confirming the identity of the person found, and if they are one of the people who were reported missing from the Grand River on July 13th," said Waterloo Regional Police.
Original story below:
A series of Instagram posts from one of two Kitchener women who went missing while rafting on the Grand River late Saturday depicted a relaxing trip from the boat launch at Woolner Trail around 3:30 p.m. to a calm sunset just after 8 p.m.
"It looked beautiful. I was a little jealous," said friend Kim Stach, who spent Sunday with family and friends searching the banks of the Grand into Cambridge for the missing pair.
"It's not the first time. They've done this before. They've rafted, out on the water getting a sun tan, enjoying that heat."
Stach was trying to stay positive as Waterloo regional police and Kitchener firefighters continued the search Monday morning in pouring rain near the Hidden Valley dam next to the Walter Bean Grand River Trail.
"They're both strong women and they're probably hurt and probably just can't get to anybody for help," Stach said. "They're going to fight their way back to us."
A 911 caller around 9:30 p.m. Saturday said two women in a raft appeared to be in distress near the Freeport bridge on King Street East.
A search for the boaters began immediately after and continued late into the night with assistance from the police drone.
Police were back at it with help from Kitchener firefighters and the Cambridge Fire Department's airboat Sunday morning, combing the banks of the river north of Blair for any signs of the blue and white, two-seater recreational raft the women were believed to have been using.
By Monday morning an OPP search and recovery dive team had joined the search, focusing on a dam downstream of the Freeport bridge.
WRPS Superintendent Brenna Bonn said the search area was established based on witness accounts and the expertise of the dive team.
"We are still hoping to locate the two females at this time," Bonn said, adding she was unable to comment if the search was a rescue or recovery operation.
She said the weather has been a challenge, with steady rain Monday morning and downpours Sunday afternoon affecting the flow of the river.
Police had also been in communication with the Grand River Conservation Authority over flood control measures impacting the flow of the river, Bonn said.
"It is quite a treacherous location," she added in describing the area where the river is now high enough to flow over the dam into a "quite turbulent area."
Police weren't releasing any information about the identities of the women. No one knew if either were wearing personal flotation devices while on the boat.
"Our ongoing hope is that we recover them and bring some closure to their families and friends," Const. Melissa Quarrie said.
She urged members of the public not to assist in the search at this time because of the conditions along the banks.
"At this time we are strongly advising against anyone coming down to the river," she said. "Let the emergency service professionals continue the search because even for them at this time it's really treacherous.
"We wouldn't want to have an incident where we have another search ongoing."
Police expect to provide an update on the search either this evening or tomorrow morning.
