A4

by Daniel Martins

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After more than a week, the body of 26-year-old Steven Young was recovered Tuesday in the waters off of Portage Island.

Young went missing after apparently falling overboard from a converted fishing boat he and several friends were on, en route to the island located in Miramichi Bay on Sunday, Aug. 24.

Members of Young's family found the body, which the RCMP said was around 7 kilometres from Neguac.

"His family went on the Ile de Portage, and they were searching along the coast and they found the body in the water," RCMP spokesman Sgt. Carl Haché said. "After that, they called us, and we sent a member there and, also, we called the coroner."

Haché estimated the call was received around 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2.

An autopsy revealed cause of death as drowning. Haché said the RCMP did not suspect foul play and anticipated the case would soon be closed.

When contacted, a friend of the family, Kimberly Shaddick, said they would prefer not to comment at that time.

"They're just exhausted," Shaddick said.

Shaddick said Young's fiancée Pam Hambrook was coping with the tragedy "as well as can be expected," adding Hambrook, Young's father David and cousins Holly Galley and Jeff Lewis were the ones to discover the body.

The captain of the boat from which Young fell, John Matheson said he was "relieved" when he heard the body was found.

"It's good for the family, to get some closure," he said.

He said the family and close-knit circle of friends surrounding them had all been affected.

"We're all just kind of staying together and [dealing] with it," he said. "It was accident, we done everything that we could. It's just an awful thing to be going through."

Matheson thanked those in Neguac who assisted in the search for Young on the afternoon he went missing, and for the support the community had given the family and friends.

"People have been awful good down there ever since, looking and helping out," he said. "Everyone's been helping, pitching in. People are really good about it."

The family will receive visitors at the Holy Trinity Congregational Christian Church, 125 Maher St., today from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. The funeral service will be held at the church on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Funeral arrangements are under the care of Bell's Funeral Home.