BWCA rescue
On May 29th, 2026 at 0955 hours, the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office received information of a distress signal that had been activated inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). The Sheriff's Office Dispatch center received GPS coordinates that put the distress signal on the southern edge of lake Lac La Croix, which is on the international border, almost straight north of Ely, MN.
The St. Louis County Rescue Squad coordinated rescue resources, as information was learned that the party who activated the distress signal, was suffering from an injury to their back. Due to the very remote location of the GPS coordinates, the U.S. Forest Service was contacted, and they assisted by flying resources to the GPS coordinates.
Eventually a 59-year-old, father and his 17-year-old son, both on vacation from Louisville, Kentucky, were flown back to the US Forest Service seaplane base, in Ely, MN, where they were then taken by ambulance, to the Ely Hospital. The 59-year-old father was treated for the injury to his back and later released.
The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office was assisted by the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, the U.S. Forest Service, the Ely Ambulance Service and a MN DNR Conservation Officer.
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