Police urge caution after four drownings in Grand Bend area

Police are urging residents and tourists to be cautious as they spend time in or around the water after a string of four drownings in less than two weeks in the Grand Bend area. Pictured above are police during search efforts in May to find a 22-year-old individual from Nepal who went missing at Pinery Provincial Park.

By Dan Rolph

In the span of less than two weeks, four individuals went missing and were later found dead in separate incidents in the Grand Bend area, and police are urging everyone with plans of being in or around the water to stay safe.

According to Lambton County OPP, crews began searching for a missing swimmer, a 28-year-old from Scarborough, who had last been seen on the beach at Pinery Provincial Park on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, just after 1 p.m.

On Aug. 27, police said visitors had found the swimmer’s body on the beach.

The next day on Aug. 28, Lambton County OPP began another search for a 66-year-old London resident who had last been seen on a dock attached to an address on Canal Street.

In an Aug. 29 update from police, Lambton County OPP confirmed that swimmer’s body had been found by the Underwater Search and Recovery Unit with the Lambton Marine Unit.

Just over an hour after the second swimmer’s body was recovered, a third swimmer, a 36-year-old from Scarborough, was reported missing, having last been seen at Pinery Provincial Park.

According to police, that swimmer’s body was found later that evening.

On Saturday, Sept. 5, police responded to reports of another missing person, a 37-year-old Kitchener man, who had been kayaking on Lake Huron about 10 kilometres north of Grand Bend in Bluewater. The kayaker’s body was found the following day on Sept. 6 off the shore of Grand Bend.

The drownings in the Grand Bend area are not the first of the busy tourist season in the region, when beaches along the coast of Lake Huron are crowded with beachgoers looking to escape the summer heat.

The body of a 22-year-old from Nepal was found after an extensive 11-day search. The individual had gone missing in May after an incident involving a raft carrying five individuals in distress at Pinery Provincial Park.

In late June, a 67-year-old man also died after he was recovered from the water at Grand Bend’s south beach.

Though the main beach in Grand Bend offers lifeguard coverage throughout the day in the summer, most beaches along the lakeshore do not, and police are urging everyone planning on spending time in or on the water to take precautions.

Those precautions include swimming alone; wearing a lifejacket or personal flotation device; supervising children closely around water; knowing your limits as a swimmer; avoiding alcohol or drug use while around the water; checking conditions before entering the water; and keeping a charged cell phone or another reliable means of communication nearby in case of emergency.

Lambton County OPP said most water-related tragedies are preventable.

“Whether you’re boating, swimming, fishing or spending time at the cottage, take a few simple precautions; wear your lifejacket, supervise children closely, stay sober, know your limits, and respect the water,” they said. “Lambton County OPP want everyone to enjoy Ontario’s water ways and, most importantly make it home safely.”