Body may be 3rd Lake Erie victim

9/21/2007

LEAMINGTON, Ont. - A body found in Lake Erie near Leamington yesterday might be the third fisherman from the Wooster, Ohio, area who has been missing for 2 1/2 weeks, the Coast Guard said.

The three men set off from a public boat ramp in western Erie County's Vermilion on Labor Day weekend.

Ontario Provincial Police were expected to ask the family of Christopher Crowner, 46, to identify the body, a Coast Guard spokesman in Cleveland said.

Mr. Crowner set off on an overnight fishing trip Sept. 2 with his brother, Dan Crowner, 44, and a friend, Cass Momchilov, 46.

The other two bodies were recovered earlier, with Dan Crowner, who was identified Tuesday, being found two miles west of Moss Point near East Cleveland on Sunday afternoon.

The body found yesterday was about 30 miles from Kelleys Island, where authorities have surmised that the fishing trio's boat and a tug-barge combination might have collided.