NORTH HERO, VT — The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office has completed the autopsy following the discovery of a body in Lake Champlain after a canoe capsized last week in North Hero.
The victim is identified as Michael Bagiackas, 71, of Montpelier.
The medical examiner determined the cause of death was drowning, and the manner of death was an accident.
The Vermont State Police investigated the death of the canoeist after the boat he was using capsized Tuesday, Oct. 21, on Lake Champlain in North Hero.
VSP’s initial investigation determined the incident began at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday when two men who were related set out in the canoe from North Hero near the Hero’s Welcome store.
While near Knight Island State Park, the canoe reportedly overturned.
Both occupants were wearing personal flotation devices.
The men became separated in the water.
One of them, later identified as Paul Council, 67, of Woodbury, was able to swim to Knight Island after about an hour in the water.
By then darkness had fallen, and Council sought shelter by gaining access to the caretaker’s residence.
There was no means of communication.
Wednesday morning, Oct. 22, Council located a canoe on the island and rowed back to North Hero, where he reported the incident and summoned help.
Multiple emergency crews began responding to the area, including VSP, the Grand Isle County Sheriff’s Department, numerous local fire departments, and the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife.
At about noon, a resident of Holiday Point Road called the authorities to report seeing an apparent body floating in the water.
The location was roughly 2 miles north of where the canoe overturned.
First responders recovered the body of an adult man from the water.
