MORRISON LANDING – A 53-year-old Erin woman drowned on the weekend while on a boating trip southwest of Gravenhurst.
On July 13 at about 3:45pm, Kathy Venneman was swimming with a group of friends from a boat on the Trent-Severn waterway near Morrison Landing when she slipped under the water and did not resurface.
The group began a frantic search, assisted by numerous bystanders, while emergency services were called, police say.
“Members of the USRU (Underwater Search and Recovery Unit) and the Orillia OPP Marine Unit responded and began a formal search of the waters until dark, at which time the search was suspended,” states an OPP press release.
Search efforts continued the next morning and at about 1:04pm, Venneman’s body was recovered.
Venneman was a member of the town’s Environment and Sustainability Advisory Committee and was recognized in the past by Credit Valley Conservation for her role in organizing Erin’s annual cleanup.
