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Final Two Bodies Recovered From Square Lake
By: David Deschesne
Fort Fairfield Journal, July 5, 2017
T15, R6 WELS, Maine—The Maine Warden Service Dive Team recovered the body of Eric Sherwood early in the morning of June 23. The team began operations at 2:30 AM as weather conditions were optimal and daylight is not needed for side scan sonar use. The dive team identified the body on side scan sonar at 3:00 AM.
Divers were deployed at daylight and recovered Sherwood’s body at 8:00 AM in 50 feet of water. Sherwood’s body was recovered in the southern portion of Square Lake about one mile from shore. Game wardens were able to search for about five hours the previous morning from 5 AM to 10 AM before bad weather set in. Searching for the rest of June 23 was put on hold due to weather.
As of June 23, 1,000 acres of the lake bottom had been searched with side scan sonar. Lake depths within the search area fluctuate between 20 and 90 feet deep. The area game wardens had been searching was determined by wind direction and statements provided by Charles Guimond, the only survivor.
The Maine Warden Service Dive Team recovered the body of Mark Chambers from Square Lake on the evening of June 25. The eleven-day recovery effort came to a close at 5:50 PM when divers located Chambers’ body using side scan sonar. Chambers was recovered in 48 feet of water about one half mile south of where Eric Sherwood’s body was recovered two days earlier. A total of 1400 acres were searched in an area one mile wide and 2.5 miles long.
Chambers was the last person missing from a party of four fishermen who had capsized in a 12-foot boat back on June 13. Those men were Charles Guimond, 23, from Fort Fairfield, who drifted to shore on Square Lake and was found alive at daybreak on June 14 by Warden Service Pilot Gary Dumond. Later that afternoon, Pilot Dumond spotted the body of Martin Chambers, 56, also from Fort Fairfield. Eric Sherwood, 43, from Fort Fairfield was recovered on June 23.