Maine Wardens on Monday recovered the body of an 18-year-old Caribou man who went missing Sunday evening while trying to swim across the Aroostook River.

Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency
Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency
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Wardens say Wayne Estabrook and three friends were gathering fiddleheads near the Caribou public boat launch around 6 p.m. Sunday.  Three of them set out to cross the river on a bridge, but Estabrook decided to attempt to swim to the other side.

The others reportedly tried to help but the current was too swift and the teen was swept away. Along with the warden service, several other agencies joined in the search Sunday evening, including Caribou Fire and Ambulance, Caribou Police Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Searchers covered a four mile stretch of the river using boats and a warden service plane, while others walked along the riverbanks for any sign of the missing teen.

Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency
Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency
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Divers were called in Monday morning, but before they could be deployed, an employee of the Caribou Wastewater Treatment  Plant spotted a body on a sandbar in the river.  Wardens retrieved Estabrook's body shortly before 9 a.m. about 2 miles from where he disappeared.

Wardens say the investigation will continue, but the death is being called an accidental drowning.

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