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Shortly before noon on Thursday, EMTs and the RCMP were called to the St. John River in Perth-Andover, pertaining to the discovery of what was believed to be a body.

Members of the Perth-Andover Fire Department assisted at the scene with the recovery effort.

Although official confirmation had yet to be made prior to the Bugle-Observer's Thursday press time, it was believed to be the body of 13-year-old Shannon Bernard, who fell into the river at the bottom of the Grand Falls gorge last Friday.

Bernard and seven friends had climbed over a fence next to the La Rochelle Tourism Centre early Friday morning to go for a swim in one of the natural pools located in the gorge. Grand Falls Town Police received the call shortly before 9:30 a.m. reporting Bernard was swept away by the strong current. Calls for assistance were made to the local fire department, which was assisted by colleagues from surrounding fire departments as well as the RCMP. Efforts continued throughout the weekend and into the early week to find Bernard, daughter of Danny and Julie Bernard.

Divers from the Edmundston and Hartland fire departments were also dispatched to the scene to aid in the search. NB Power closed the gates of the Grand Falls dam in order to diminish the water flow and allow divers to better search the various deep pools located in the gorge as well as its lower part.

In addition to the volunteer force of boaters who had been patrolling the river since her disappearance, Grand Falls Town Police accepted an offer from a group of ex-military specialists from Bangor on Wednesday. The group flew in a specially-equipped airplane to patrol the river. The plane's equipment can scan the water down to a depth of 15 feet and a width of 60 feet.

"They scanned the river in the Grand Falls area down to Beechwood," stated Police Chief Jean-Réal Michaud.

Thursday morning, prior to the discovery in the Perth-Andover area, Michaud stated the first of the many images downloaded from the plane's sophisticated scanning equipment had shown what appeared to a body's torso in the Beechwood area. However, upon verification of the location provided by the specialists, it was discovered that the image belonged to a discarded, white plastic pail in the water.

Michaud added the investigation into the tragic incident, which has struck the entire community, should be complete by this weekend.

Official word of the discovery had yet to be confirmed by police authorities.