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A body found in the St. Lawrence River earlier this month has been identified as Casey Oakes, who disappeared in March after he was last seen operating a boat later found near the bodies of two migrant families.
Oakes was 30 when he disappeared on March 29. His body was found in the river July 3 near Ross Island, but it took some time for the identity to be confirmed.
He had last been seen at night, launching into the St. Lawrence from the eastern part of Cornwall Island — near the Ontario-Quebec border — in a light blue boat.
His family reported him missing the next day, the same day the bodies of six people, including a two-year-old child, were found in the water. Two other bodies were recovered the following day.
Police believe the victims were attempting to cross into the U.S.
In a news release issued Friday, Akwesasne Mohawk police said the coroner’s office recently confirmed Oakes’s identity.
“We wish to extend our condolences to Casey’s family and thank them for their patience during a difficult time,” the police service said.
“No further information will be released at this time.”
Investigation into deaths ongoing, police say
The investigation into Oakes’s death, and the deaths of eight foreign nationals who were crossing the river by boat, continues, police said.
One of the families was from Romania and the other was from India.
Anyone with information is asked to call Akwesasne Mohawk police at 613-575-2340 or email tips@akwesasne.ca.
Struggles with addiction, smuggling record
Oakes was the father of two girls, the youngest of whom is not yet a year old, according to his cousin, Fallan Jacobs.
He was the great-grandson of Levi Oakes, a famed “code talker” with the U.S. army during the Second World War, who died in 2019.
Casey Oakes had been convicted of smuggling marijuana in 2017, and in 2021 was sentenced to nine months in U.S. federal prison for addictions-related breaches of supervised release conditions that stemmed from the 2017 conviction.
Oakes had struggled with addictions and depression, and had tried to reach out for help, according to U.S. court records. None of the records reviewed by CBC News discuss the root causes behind the addictions.
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