Dave Dale The Nugget
Local News – Tuesday, August 29, 2006 @ 08:00

The Ontario Provincial Police will continue searching today for the body of a Toronto resident who went missing on Lake Nipissing last week.

Eli Horowitz, 30, a paramedic with the Jewish emergency medical service Hatzoloh, disappeared while fishing and swimming with his father-in-law Heine Mondrowitz, 56, of Richmond Hill.

Mondrowitz’s body was found Saturday morning along the shore of Lonely Island by OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit personnel.

Reports say the two men were guests at the Waltonian Inn when they rented a boat and motor last Monday for a late afternoon excursion.

They left at 3:30 p.
m. with plans to return less than four hours later, but the boat was found drifting unattended near LaVase River at 5:30 p.m.

An extensive water, ground and air search involving more than 30 OPP and hundreds of volunteers was launched.

Sgt. Rick Tass of the North Bay OPP Detachment said the clear weather Monday gave searchers hope they would be able to spot the body of Horowitz.

“It’s a good day because we have a high ceiling and calm waters,” Tass said near the OPP command post outside the Waltonian Inn.

Based on the comments of witnesses and wind direction, he said the men likely entered the water east of the tourist lodge, with waves pushing the empty boat northward to where it was found.

Since then and after a large-scale shoreline search, Tass said the wind direction changed and whatever was floating on the water would have been pushed southwest.

“We’ve had opposite direction winds for three days and by Saturday it was going pretty good,” he said, explaining why the underwater personnel decided to resume searching near Lonely Island, west of the Waltonian Inn and closer to the mouth of the South River.

“Because of that fact,” Tass said, “we’re looking beyond Lonely Island and in the South Bay area in case the second individual also surfaced.”

He said the OPP is also not ruling out the possibility Horowitz will remain submerged longer due to his slight build and could be found closer to where he originally went under.

Tass said the search is continuing longer than what might be deemed usual partly due to the “strong” involvement of the missing men’s community, fair weather and the desire to find the bodies before the public does.

Five OPP divers, six marine unit members, three command post personnel, one helicopter pilot and an auxiliary unit volunteer spotter will be involved in the search today, he said.