Search teams find missing man from Lino Lakes in Boundary Waters Canoe Area after accident

Authorities say St. Louis County rescue crews are pulling their equipment from the Boundary Waters canoe area after discovering the body of 40-year-old Reis Grams of Lino Lakes on Monday morning.

For more than two weeks, members of the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, along with other law enforcement officers, searched for canoeist Grams in the Curtain Falls area, with occasional assistance from the Minnesota National Guard.

“Reis was such a good man, he would be so proud of the strength of everyone who got through this,” said his wife, Angie Grams. “He just wanted everyone to pray and focus on their higher power.”

After several canoes got into trouble and fell over the falls in mid-May, search and rescue efforts were carried out by air, on the ground and in the water.

Near Curtain Falls, between Crooked Lake and Iron Lake on the Minnesota-Ontario border, one of the canoes encountered a problem when another canoe came to the group’s aid, according to police.

Two men in the group survived, but Reis and another friend, 41-year-old Jesse Haugen, did not make it out alive.

Another group located at the BWCA saw that one of the men needed help and was able to call 911.

“He welcomed you into his home like you were family,” said Reis’ friend Brandon Rickert. “He was a family man, very loving, caring, selfless, he did a lot of missionary work.”

In the family’s garage sits a table Reis built with a map of the Boundary Waters and photographs he has taken on his travels since childhood.

Her relatives gathered there all day long, waiting for news from the search teams about Reis.

“It was like a feeling of comfort and connection with him,” Angie said.

She knows her husband was doing what he truly loved: canoeing with friends in a place he also loved.

“He really likes it there,” said Angie.

Over the years, the family made missionary trips to Mexico to help build houses.

Her family is planning another mission trip to commemorate Reis.

Friends started a fundraising page to help the families of the two men.