Police identify body of missing sailor Reginald Fisher

Provincial police have identified a body that washed up on shore in the Port Burwell area as that of missing sailor Reginald Fisher.

The 77-year-old Dutton man was last seen leaving Port Glasgow, Ont. in his sailboat on Sept.17, 2020 and was reported missing the following day.

A woman living on the north shore of Lake Erie reported seeing distress flares coming up from the lake near Clearville the night Fisher vanished.

She was told by military officials with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton, Ont.that what she was seeing must be another rescue in progress not far from Port Burwell.

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The OPP said Monday that the body was discovered by a jogger on the shore of Lake Erie at 7 p.m. on Friday,just west of the Port Burwell Provincial Park beach area.

Police, the Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Air Force searched by air and water and while Fisher's capsized sailboat was discovered, rescuers had no luck locating Fisher.