Missing rafter found dead in Yellowstone River identified

UPDATE 7/17/18: In a story July 13 about the death of a rafter, The Associated Press, based on information provided by the Park County Sheriff’s Office, erroneously identified the victim as Everett Shirtliff of Ellicott City, Maryland. The victim’s name was Mark Shirtliff.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Missing rafter found dead in Yellowstone River

Park County officials say a rafter who was reported missing in the Yellowstone River on Thursday evening was found dead Friday morning

LIVINGSTON, Mont. (AP) – Officials in southern Montana say a rafter who was reported missing on the Yellowstone River has been found dead.

Park County Sheriff Scott Hamilton says the man’s body was located at about 10:30 a.m. Friday along the river bank near the north end of Yankee Jim Canyon, north of Yellowstone National Park.

The sheriff’s office identified the man as 49-year-old Mark Shirtliff of Ellicott City, Maryland.

Authorities received a report at about 7:40 p.m. Thursday from people who saw an apparently unconscious man floating in the river.

Officers later learned three people had launched a raft at a fishing access about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the park and the raft flipped. The missing man was last seen floating away.

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UPDATE 5:50 p.m. Officials in southern Montana say a rafter who was reported missing on the Yellowstone River has been found dead.

Park County Sheriff Scott Hamilton says the man’s body was located at about 10:30 a.m. Friday along the river bank near the north end of Yankee Jim Canyon, north of Yellowstone National Park.

The sheriff’s office identified the man as 49-year-old Everett Shirtliff of Ellicott City, Maryland.

Authorities received a report at about 7:40 p.m. Thursday from people who saw an apparently unconscious man floating in the river.

Officers later learned three people had launched a raft at a fishing access about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the park and the raft flipped. The missing man was last seen floating away.

UPDATE 12:58 p.m. Officials in southern Montana say a rafter who was reported missing on the Yellowstone River has been found dead.

Park County Sheriff Scott Hamilton says the man’s body was located at about 10:30 a.m. Friday along the river bank near the north end of Yankee Jim Canyon, north of Yellowstone National Park.

The sheriff’s office received a report at about 7:40 p.m. Thursday from people who saw an apparently unconscious man floating in the river.

Officers later learned three people had launched a raft at a fishing access about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the park and the raft flipped. The missing man was last seen floating away.

Hamilton was withholding the man’s name until family members could be notified.

ORIGINAL:

Officials in southern Montana are searching by boat and helicopter for a man who is missing after a rafting accident on the Yellowstone River north of Yellowstone National Park.

The Park County sheriff’s office received a report at about 7:40 p.m. Thursday from people who saw an apparently unconscious person floating in the river.

Officers later learned three people had launched a raft at a fishing access about 20 miles north of the park and the raft flipped. The missing man was last seen floating away. He was wearing khaki pants or shorts, sandals or water shoes and a blue and black life jacket.

The search was suspended Thursday night due to darkness and resumed Friday morning.