On Sept. 7, at 1:15pm, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch received notice of a distress signal from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, via a Garmin safety device.
The GPS coordinates placed the spot of the distress west of Contest Lake, in the area of Stuart River portage northwest of Ely. Garmin informed the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office they had updated information and that the injured party had a possible broken leg.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office Rescue Squad, Morse-Fall Lake Fire Department, the Minnesota State Patrol - Minnesota Air Rescue Team and Lifelink Helicopter service assisted in getting to the injured party and getting them removed from the wilderness.
The injured party was a 70-year-old, Fort Collins, CO resident and is currently being transported to a Duluth hospital due to non-life-threatening injuries. The name of the injured party is being withheld, pending notification of their family.
