On May 10, at approximately 2:15 p.m., U.S. Forest Service employees reported to 911 that they had located a capsized canoe on Iron Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area north of Ely. Upon investigating further, the USFS employees located a deceased individual and their gear floating near the canoe. The deceased was wearing a life jacket. It is believed that the individual was on a solo canoe trip into the BWCA.

The USFS Beaver was flown in to recover the body.

The canoeist was identified as 62year-old, St. Louis Park, Minn., resident Robert Sydney James.

The incident remains under investigation by the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office and Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office.