March 17, 2021 – Crews searching for Jaxon MacDonald found the Regina teen’s body on an island on Madge Lake on Tuesday morning, according to the RCMP.
The Regina teenager had been missing since 12:30 a.m. Sunday after leaving a party at one of the beach communities adjacent to the lake, which sits about 25 minutes east of Kamsack.
Mounties reported in their midday update Tuesday that search crews had found the dead boy’s body just before noon. The RCMP is investigating his death and have not yet released further details.
“Our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time,” the RCMP said.
MacDonald’s mom, Danielle Wilson, spoke with the Leader-Post on Monday when search efforts were still underway.
She called him “a smart, resourceful kid. He’s friendly. He’s outgoing.”
Wilson said people often relayed to her how mature they found her son to be. “(He’s) mature for his age. Everybody keeps saying that—`he’s the smartest kid I know.’ ”
On Monday she said her son always thought about his own safety, and she didn’t expect him to be asking strangers for rides.
Since MacDonald was reported missing Sunday, approximately 100 people had been trying to help find him, starting that day. That included Mounties, local firefighters, volunteers, police dogs and an airplane unit.
Wilson also said her son texted her when he was leaving the party at 12:30 a.m., asking her to pick him up. When she arrived, he wasn’t there, she said.
It was the third hourly check-in he did.
“He checked with me at 10:30 (and) 11:30 (Saturday night). ‘I’m good mom, I’m good.’ I didn’t even ask. That’s the kind of kid he is,” she said.
Wilson commended the 100-plus people helping with the search efforts, saying everyone was “working very hard.”
Nearby Cote First Nation, north of Kamsack, confirmed it had approximately 35 volunteers ready to help out with the searches, had they been called to do so.
“The community is deeply saddened. This is our backyard and we have visitors come to visit us. It’s unfortunate,” operations director Darcy Tourangeau said.
Madge Lake is in Duck Mountain Provincial Park in eastern Saskatchewan. Part of the park is in Saskatchewan and the majority of it is in Manitoba.
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