Larry, Did you catch Ben Stein on "CBS This Morning" a few weeks ago, talking about his favorite vacation destinations? Pend Oreille and Priest . . . Also, I'm pretty sure one of my recent Boat/U.S. newsletters featured the lakes, but I can't find it at the moment to tell you which issue. Sounds as if the lakes are as enigmatic, and perhaps dangerous (?), as they are beautiful . . . Looking forward to further updates on the Jodi Beth mystery. --Craig ----- Original Message ----- From: "Larry E Yake" <leyake@juno.com> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 12:13 AM Subject: Priest Lake continued The strange and tragic tale of my trip to Priest Lake this summer continues. I'm asked from time to time if they ever found the body of the sailor whose boat I found grounded on Eight Mile Island. Short answer, no, but here's where it gets strange. The victim was a fireman. I got a call from one of his coworkers this evening. He is an experienced search and rescue diver who has connections and access to some sophisticated search equipment. Commited to finding the body so the widow isn't left with nothing (no body, no death certificate), they're up there now doing a search of the lake bottom with side scanning sonar and a remote operated rescue machine. They searched the location I gave the Sheriff's boat where I saw (on my fish finder) a large object on the bottom in 300 feet of water shortly before discovering the grounded sailboat. Down there they saw several huge fish in the 5 to 6 foot range, but no body. They did find a body not far away off Eight Mile Island, but it wasn't him. It had been there a long time, with what they think is a sailboat on the bottom nearby. They are trying to run down scarce leads on who else has drowned up there and not been recovered. Two days before this all began, before the discovery of the Jodi Beth grounded, I sailed into Indian Creek campground to give a buddy and his wife a promised but long postponed day of sailing on Tullamore. Joining us was her mother, a native of the Priest Lake area who has always wanted to sail, but never had the opportunity. She enjoyed the trip immensely and soon began to tell stories about the old days on Priest Lake. "My uncle drowned out there off Eight Mile Island, and they never did find him." The searchers are on the phone with her now. Larry