Man's body found

The body of a Moyie Springs man who was reported missing Saturday evening was found in the Moyie River Sunday morning.

John Thole, 45, was found by his wife and a friend Sunday morning.

He in two feet of water in the Moyie River about 60 feet out from shore near Bare Ass beach, according to Boundary County Sheriff’s Office.

A friend of Thole’s, Robert Truppe, reported at 5:30 p.m., to BCSO that Thole had been out on his normal routine walk with his dogs but had not returned in hours.  Thole’s vehicle was found and dogs were located outside of the vehicle.

A deputy was sent to help look for Thole and soon Boundary County Sheriff’s Posse, Boundary Volunteer Ambulance and BCSR  were called in to help with the search.

At  4 a.m., Sunday BCSO stopped the search  due to safety concerns for the crews and volunteers looking for Thole.

“The terrain was rugged and it was slick, cold and very dark, and the search parties needed to be protected until daylight hours,” said a BCSO spokesman.

The searchers gathered for the second shift of searching Sunday morning, and as they assembled they learned that at about 8 a.m., Thole was found by his wife and a friend.

It appeared to be a drowning.  On Monday an autopsy was performed and the initial report indicated Thole had a medical condition that resulted in the drowning.