MOON RIVER, Ont. -
This morning, police divers pulled a male body from the swirling waterfall in Ontario's Muskoka cottage region where three cliff-jumpers went missing Sunday.
Divers are still searching for two more swimmers who are presumed drowned.
A provincial police helicopter carrying a team of eight police divers touched down on the south bank of the Moon Falls just before 9 a.m.
The first body, clad in black shorts, was dragged onto the rocks about 15 minutes later.
Three swimmers went into the water at Moon Falls - remote rapids on Moon River in the Muskoka region -and disappeared Sunday afternoon.
The search for them was suspended Monday after police deemed the rapids too tumultuous for their dive team. They plan to resume the search Tuesday.
Seven people believed to be in their 20s got into the water Sunday but only four came out.
The swimmers entered the lower portion of the waterfalls where the water moved faster than normal and was half a metre higher than usual due to recent heavy rainfall.
Two suffered minor injuries while two others were airlifted to Parry Sound Hospital after having "near-drowning experiences," said police. They were released Sunday night.
Names of the missing swimmers have not been released.
A provincial police helicopter, a dozen police officers with the provincial Underwater Search and Recovery Unit and a coroner were at the falls Monday morning, said Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Greg Allison.
One police diver entered the water on a rope but the water flow made it too dangerous to continue. The rough waters forced police to suspend the search until Tuesday morning, Allison said.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Ontario Hydro shut off the water flow from a dam upstream, but police said it could take more than 24 hours for the torrents of water to stop pouring over the falls because the dam is kilometres away.
At least five friends and family members of the missing people gathered Monday on one side of the river, where the three Toronto-area residents are presumed drowned.
A group of nearly 100 campers gathered on the other bank Sunday afternoon after hearing the shocking news.
William Martin, 21, of Barrie, Ont. was camping with a group of friends at a site across from the falls. He said he saw three helicopters arrive, a procession of stretchers leave and a visibly distraught friend crying out.
"He was crying and shouting on the other side," Martin said. "He was pacing around and people were trying to calm him."
Martin, who often camps on the river, said many tenters cut their weekend short Sunday after the incident.
He said he usually joins a line of jumpers, but decided against it after seeing the unusually turbulent water. "It's totally not doable this year. The water level covers a lot of rocks . . . (It's) much, much higher than in the past," Martin said.
The site is a popular camping destination about a two-hour drive from Toronto. Numerous tents are set up along Crown land by the river, an area only reachable by boat.
