On June 3, 2003, Phillip McKay set out from Berens River, Manitoba, to tend commercial fishing nets in Sandy Bar Bay. He and a fellow fisherman left about 9:00 a.m. When a net became tangled in the boat’s motor propeller, the vessel was pulled down and then struck by two large waves that capsized it. Both men went into the cold water while wearing oilers; the other fisherman survived and was treated for shock and hypothermia, but Phillip’s body was never recovered.

Phillip is described as an Indigenous male, 68 inches tall, weighing 141 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He had a crooked right leg and walked with a limp, and had crooked fingers on both hands. Authorities have concluded he is presumed to have died by drowning, though his remains were not found and the lack of recovery leaves questions for his family.

Did anyone who fished Sandy Bar Bay in 2003 or who knew Phillip have memories or information to share?