Families await identification of body found in ocean off Cape Breton
The families of two missing men have been notified of the recovery of a body spotted floating off the coast of Cape Breton Wednesday evening.
The unidentified human remains were found in the ocean, about 18 kilometres off Port Hood, N.S., by a mackerel fisherman around 6:30 p.m., said RCMP media spokesperson Cpl. Jennifer Clarke.
The fisherman, from Bayfield, near Antigonish, alerted Inverness RCMP. The RCMP's underwater recovery team and the Canadian Coast Guard joint rescue co-ordination team were assisted by fishermen from Port Hood in bringing the body ashore.
An autopsy was expected to be performed in Dartmouth, N.S., Thursday.
"We do know that there are two people that are missing from that area," said Clarke. "We've been working with the families within the last while and we would like to respect those families until the body is identified."
Inverness RCMP are investigating.
One of the men has been missing since July 2017, the other since this January.
Jason McGrath went missing last summer. The 32-year-old man took to the water in a kayak near Cape George, north of Antigonish. His kayak was found later near Judique Interval.
Patrick MacDonald, 53, was last seen on Jan. 23. His truck was found at the wharf at Ballantynes Cove.
