Body found in Maumee River confirmed to be missing boater

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - A body was found in the Maumee River on Wednesday, according to the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department. The Lucas County Coroner’s Office identified the individual as 21-year-old Jesse Babiuch who went missing on April 30 after a canoe capsized on the Maumee River near DiSalle Bridge.

While searching the Maumee River on May 3, TFRD watercraft with sonar technology located a body 15 feet underwater. The body has since been recovered and transferred to the Lucas County Coroner’s Office who will determine the cause of death.

The family has set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses. Babiuch’s close friend Trinity Morris told 13abc about the scary moments after the canoe capsized.

“Him and his friends were on the boat. The boat flipped,” said Morris. “His friends were able to swim to shore and one of his friends yelled out to take their clothes off so it wouldn’t weigh them down, and his friend got their clothes off, but they said when they got to shore, they couldn’t find him and he wasn’t there. He just disappeared. He’s MIA.”

Babiuch’s family searched for his body in the days following his disappearance on the Maumee River. His younger sister, Emily White, said they would not give up until he was found.

White described her brother as an auto mechanic and an avid fisherman. The resident of Toledo’s east side is also the father of two young girls, according to his family.

The attached video originally aired Monday.

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