NEW TOWN – The body of a missing jet skier was found by fishermen about 8 a.m. on Sunday. Chad Kanine, 41, New Town went missing sometime after 8 a.m. June 11. On that date Kanine’s riderless jet ski was found on the east shore of the Missouri River arm of Lake Sakakawea opposite the Four Bears Marina.

According to a release from the Mountrail County Sheriff’s Department, Kanine’s body was found on the east shore of Lake Sakakawea approximately one-half mile south of the Four Bears Bridge. Mountrail County Sheriff Ken Halvorson said Kanine was positively identified by a homemade tattoo on his body.

Kanine was taken to the North Dakota Forensic Examiner’s Office in Bismarck for autopsy. Preliminary results showed that Kanine died from drowning.

Kanine and another jet skier were on the water together but became separated in the high winds on the day of his disappearance. Kanine was not wearing a personal flotation device. The depth of the water in the area where Kanine went missing is up to 100 feet deep, which made the search for him more difficult.

Officers from the Mountrail County Sheriff’s Department, Three Affiliated Tribes Police Department and the New Town Fire Department were involved in the retrieval of the body. Sheriff Halvorson said he was grateful to all agencies that participated in the 43-day search for Kanine.