Body found in Kansas River identified as missing canoeist

A body found Monday in the Kansas River in Wyandotte County has been tentatively identified as Shaun Shaw, a missing canoeist, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

The body was taken to the coroner’s office for examination, Sheriff’s Lt. Kari Wempe said.

The body was discovered at 8:40 a.m. near 78th Street and Holliday Drive in Kansas City, Kan. Douglas County officers responded to the scene along with Kansas City police. An investigator from the coroner’s office also went to the site to try to make an identification.

Shaw, 26, of De Soto, had been missing since April 19. He was in a canoe with two friends when it capsized a mile and a half east of Eudora.

They had been hunting for mushrooms as they floated along the Wakarusa River when they ran into rougher water on the Kansas River.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks along with several local and regional public safety agencies conducted a weeklong search.

The sheriff’s office will wait for a complete report from the coroner’s office before concluding its investigation, Wempe said.