
ELY, Minn. (AP) — Bad weather Tuesday was hampering the search for two men who went over a waterfall while fishing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of northern Minnesota over the weekend.
St. Louis County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Nate Skelton says cloud cover was too low for aerial surveillance and up to 2 inches of rain was anticipated, so the next two days were not promising.
Skelton said a search crew was camping on site, waiting for conditions to improve in the remote area, about 100 miles north of Duluth. The closest town is Ely, some 20 miles away. The crew was equipped with drones and remotely operated vehicles.
Superior National Forest officials closed trails, campsites, portages and bodies of water in the area, to assist in the search.
Authorities have identified the missing men as Jesse Melvin Haugen, 41, of Cambridge, and Reis Melvin Grams, 40, of Lino Lakes. They went over Curtain Falls, between Crooked Lake and Iron Lake on the Minnesota-Ontario border while fishing in the area Saturday.
The missing men were part of a group of five in two canoes.
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