WIIKWEMKOONG—A Wiikwemkoong man, Corey Assiniwe, has been identified as the victim in a suspected drowning in Chutes Provincial Park in Sables-Spanish Rivers Township, this past Saturday.
On June 25, shortly after 4:30 pm the Manitoulin detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the North East Region Crime Unit, OPP Aviation Services, North Shore Search and Rescue and Manitoulin-Sudbury Paramedic Services responded to a report of a possible drowning at Chutes Provincial Park.
Investigation determined that the individual was swimming with friends and failed to resurface. On June 26, the OPPs’ Underwater Search and Recovery Unit (USRU) attended the scene and recovered the individual. The deceased was identified as Corey Assiniwe, 35-years-old from Wiikwemkoong.
Friends of the family told The Expositor that Corey was a very friendly person, he knew a lot of people and was close to a lot of people. He and his partner Annika Abel had children. He was employed at the Wikwemikong Health Centre.
The Office of Chief Coroner and Ontario Forensic Pathology Service (OCC-OCFPS) is assisting and a post-mortem examination will take place in Sudbury.
This is the second drowning at that site in the recent past. The most recent event was in 2018.
