BOWDOINHAM — The body of a Portland man who disappeared while canoeing with his wife Saturday night was recovered Sunday afternoon from the Cathance River in Bowdoinham.
Sgt. Daniel White of the Maine Marine Patrol said divers from the Maine State Police dive team recovered the body of 32-year-old Santana Dubon around 4:30 p.m.
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White said Dubon’s body, which will be examined by the State Medical Examiner’s Office, was found upstream from the Route 24 bridge, near Bowdoinham’s downtown. He appears to have drowned.
White said Dubon, his wife, and a relative set out Saturday in single canoe from the Philip Mailly Waterfront Park for an afternoon of fishing and relaxation. Authorities got a distress call around 7:30 p.m. Saturday saying that Dubon’s canoe had capsized.
Dubon’s wife and her cousin swam to safety; but Dubon, who was not wearing a life jacket, according to White, disappeared from their view.
“They went to get help after they lost sight of him,” White explained.
Emergency crews, including a Coast Guard helicopter from Massachusetts searched the river until midnight and began looking again at daybreak Sunday.
More than 50 volunteers searched along the shore while divers searched in the river.
White said divers were hampered by murky water that prevented them from seeing underwater more than a foot in front of them.
“We are searching in a particular area of interest, which may or may not result in something,” White said, during Sunday’s search effort. “The visibility is hampering what the divers can see.”
On Sunday, a marine patrol float plane circled the search area for hours.
The Cathance is a tidal, U-shaped river that flows into Merrymeeting Bay on one end, and from Bradley Pond in Topsham on the other.
The boat landing at the town’s waterfront park is a popular recreation spot for kayakers, canoeists and fishermen. A large group of kayakers launched from the park on Sunday for a guided tour of the river.
Dubon’s family members gathered at a picnic table in the waterfront park, walking to the Route 24 bridge occasionally to watch the search.
They declined to speak to a reporter.
“The family is taking it very hard,” White said.
Sister Patricia Pora works for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.
Pora operates an Hispanic ministry for Portland’s Latino community.
“I don’t know him personally, but he is from Portland, and he is from (El) Salvador,” Pora said.
Pora said Dubon has been living in the Portland area for awhile, but she was not sure for how long.
She said his family “was in mourning and was attending a prayer service” Sunday night.
No other details concerning Dubon’s background were available Sunday.
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