Bodies recovered in search off Sandpoint Beach
Windsor police report the bodies of two young men swept underwater by the current near Sandpoint Beach have been recovered.
According to investigators, both were found shortly before 8 p.m. on Friday — a little more than a day after a 911 call came in to report they had gone missing.
Police reported the two men, both in their 20s, and a third had entered the water of Lake St. Clair before the third watched them both get swept away.
The day that followed was one rife with agony for the friends and family waiting on the shore.
“As of now, we don’t have any hope,” Chuda Bajgai, the uncle of one of the victims, told CTV News around 7:00 p.m. — shortly before the search concluded.
The beach is officially closed to swimming with signage posted along fenced-off portions of the shoreline warning residents of the dangers.
Lifeguards are not scheduled to take their post until mid-June.
Police said foul play is not suspected.
Yogesh Bajgai, pictured, was one of two victims to drown in waters off the shores of Sandpoint Beach on May 23, 2024. (Photo courtesy Facebook/YO Gesh Bajgai)
Victims identified
Bajgai said his nephew, 26-year-old Yogesh Bajgai, was one of the two men lost to the water.
“The family is not doing well. Especially Yogesh's mom, who is in poor health,” he said. “He was the one who supported his family and siblings.”
Bajgai said his nephew was a hardworking man. So much so, that he had only just started to take advantage of the time he wasn’t working and getting out to have fun with friends.
That’s what he sought to do Thursday when he went to Sandpoint Beach.
In a social media post from St. Clair College, the second victim was identified as graduate Rohit Dheer.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of both during this difficult time," the college wrote.
Recurring issue
Angelo Marignani, the Windsor city councillor in the area, said the stretch where the men entered the water is infamously dangerous. Marignani said the pair recovered Friday are the seventh and eighth lives to be claimed by the current along the Sandpoint shoreline.
He stepped away from his conversation with CTV News on Friday to warn others at the beach of the fenced off area.
"There's been two times — you just saw the third time — that someone's gone to the area,” said Marignani.
“People usually say, 'We got pulled this way,’” added Marignani. “Well yeah, and if you go further, you're going to get pulled quicker."
Marignani said city hall is already working towards bolstering the safety features employed at the beach, with work being done to shift the high-traffic part of the beach even further east from the dangerous current.
He plans to raise a question at Monday’s regular meeting of council to see if that process can be sped up.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6940995.1719358769!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Things a pediatrician would never let their child do
As summer begins for most children around Canada, CTV News spoke with a number of pediatric health professionals about the best practices for raising kids, and how the profession has evolved since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Should he stay or should he go now? A look at Trudeau's options after byelection loss
A historic defeat for the Liberals in a downtown Toronto byelection has put a glaring question mark on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's political future. Here's a look at the options Trudeau and the Liberals face as they enter a summer of soul-searching.
Alabama man denied office after winning election reaches proposed settlement to become town's first Black mayor
An Alabama town and a Black man who was prevented from becoming its mayor after winning his 2020 election have reached a proposed settlement, according to federal court documents.
'Why did I have this surgery?' Ont. mother seeks answers after son's tonsil surgery
An Ontario mother said it looked like a horror movie when she flicked on the lights of her son’s bedroom to find him projectile vomiting blood after his tonsils were removed at McMaster Children’s Hospital.
WestJet mechanics issue strike notice for possible job action Friday
WestJet says it faces a possible strike by its mechanics starting as early as Friday.
New experience in Halifax gets people up close and personal to the ocean's most feared predator
Atlantic Shark Expeditions launched a new shark cage experience which gives brave attendees a chance to get up close and personal with the oceans most feared predator.
Many older adults are still taking daily aspirin, even though some shouldn't be, experts say
Some seniors continue to take a daily aspirin in the hopes of reducing their cardiovascular disease risk, even though the practice is only recommended for certain high-risk patients -- and taking it without a doctor's recommendation can come with significant risks.
Flatulent cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first
Denmark will tax livestock farmers for the greenhouse gases emitted by their cows, sheep and pigs from 2030, the first country in the world to do so as it targets a major source of methane emissions, one of the most potent gases contributing to global warming.
Ukraine's Zelenskyy scolds officials who shirk their duties in the country's war effort
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signalled Wednesday that he is getting tough on officials he suspects are shirking their duties in the war with Russia that is now in its third year.