They posted a selfie from the river. How an evening tubing trip turned to tragedy on the Grand
By Bill Doucet, Waterloo Region Record
July 19, 2024
Last Saturday, best friends Annette Martz and Rachel Taylor were enjoying a relaxing day on the river when they ran into trouble and it cost them their lives
The weather was perfect. Annette Martz and Rachel Taylor sat on the Grand River in Kitchener last Saturday in a two-seat, inflatable, blue and white pool float, shoes off, feet dangling in the water, paddles in hand and cold drinks in a cooler area between the seats. Seven photos were posted by Martz on her Facebook page that day at 8:20 p.m., captioned “Floating with my buddy,” accompanied by a heart emoji. With the sun shining on their smiling faces, the two had no idea what awaited them.
The best friends were last seen about an hour later, at approximately 9:30 p.m., by a witness who called emergency services to say the women were going over the weir near the Hidden Valley Low Lift Station and calling for help. After going over the weir, the witness did not see them resurface.
Emergency services arrived at the scene, approximately one kilometre downstream from the Freeport bridge, and determined “treacherous water conditions” were believed to be a factor in the women’s disappearance.Their pool float was found deflated in the churning water at the bottom of the weir.
Their bodies were discovered a day apart. Taylor, in her late 40s, a human resources manager at Woodhouse Group Inc. and a graduate of Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute and Conestoga College, was found on Monday evening near Old Mill Road and Pinnacle Drive in Kitchener.
Martz, 49, was discovered Tuesday afternoon, in the water near Willow Street in Paris, 40 kilometres from Kitchener, according to a GoFundMe page for her daughters, Cheyanne and Kiera. The women were not wearing life jackets.
Weir treacherous
Prior to finding Taylor on Monday, the weir was an aquatic nightmare. As water rushed over the weir, trapped logs thrashed in the water at the foot of it, loudly thumping into the weir and icebreakers in the water. A sign on the banks of the river leading to weir stated, “Danger: weir. Caution: weir 100 metres ahead.”
Kim Stach, a good friend of Martz who attended a Monday news briefing with police, before either woman was found, said she was trying to make sense of how such a beautiful day ended in tragedy.
She had seen Martz getting her nails done Friday and was invited on the trip down the river, but joked she would stand on the shore and wave, as she’s not a water person. Stach even teased Martz, a Grand River Collegiate Institute graduate who worked at Denso Auto Parts, that she should be careful not to poke a hole in the float with her nails.
Stach, a personal support worker in long-term care, however, had to work Saturday and said she was jealous after Martz posted photos of herself and Taylor on the river. “I was like, wow, it’s so beautiful. But I’m at work, enjoy,” Stach thought to herself.
It wasn’t until Martz’s daughter called her daughter — their kids go to school together — to say her mother was missing, that Stach had any inkling something tragic had happened. At first, she believed it was a misunderstanding.
Stach decided to head to a couple launch pads she knew Martz had used in the past to see if she was there. She also contacted members of the Facebook group FOCKin Singles, of which Martz was a member. People in the group gathered for day trips tubing down the Grand River in the area where the women disappeared.
She asked if the group members were rafting that day and they said they were, but the water got rough and they decided to pack it in. Stach assumed Martz and Taylor did the same, until she heard about the 911 call. Stach was taken aback. “I feel they’re both strong women,” she said. “She was not a pro, but she knew the water. She wouldn’t take a risk. She was there to have fun, enjoy, relax. “It’s very hard to wrap my head around it. I don’t understand why they were on the water so late. I guess we’re never going to get answers of what truly went down.”
Popular place to launch
Stach believes the women set off at the end of Woolner Trail, saying she was told Martz’s vehicle was there. The Woolner launch is where the Facebook group members start their journeys down the river as well.
The launch sits at the end of an asphalt path, stemming from the parking lot at the end of street. The path bends around the trees and goes right to the edge of the water.
A photo taken by Martz earlier Saturday shows the Fairway Road bridge in the distance. If they started at Woolner Trail, Martz may have taken the photo before turning around and heading downstream.
Stach said after Martz went missing, she caught herself phoning her friend’s cellphone and reaching out to her on Facebook Messenger, hoping she would get a reply. Deep down, she said, that was just her mind playing tricks on her.
There was some comfort, however, knowing Martz and Taylor were together. “I hope that they held on to each other and never let go. As a mother and as a friend and as a daughter, I can’t imagine all the emotions that are going through our whole circle of people,” Stach said. “To me, at our age, we’re supposed to grow old with our friends … with our walkers and our canes and smacking each other with them, not going through a tragedy like this.”
Dangerous spot
Sylvia Kolednik, administrator for the Facebook group, said she knows how dangerous that section of the river can be. Group members have organized floats down the river on tubes and flotation devices, but those that she’s been part of have been in big groups and participant devices are all tied together for safety. The trip between the Woolner Trail and Freeport bridge, on calm days, can take an hour and a half, and when the water is fast moving, 45 minutes, she said. Trips taken within in her group always go from Woolner to the bridge.
After what happened Saturday, Kolednik said she spoke with other members from the Facebook group and none of them knew a weir was farther down the river. She didn’t know if Martz or Taylor realized that either. Her belief is the two probably wanted to disembark at the Freeport bridge and fast water pushed them past and they couldn’t recover. She has experienced that before.
On one trip with a group, there were 20 people on the river and when they came under the bridge in fast-moving water, it was difficult for them to steer to the shore. Luckily, being tied together, they had enough people to pull and get them all out of the water safely.
Part of the difficulty in the area of the bridge is navigation, as the water is shallow near the north bank — or on the right, when in the river — but deeper on the south. Floaters have to stay to the left to avoid shredding their craft on the sharp rocks, then turn to the right, get out and pull their float to the shore. “You have to know where to veer off. What I do think happened is they couldn’t get off and just kept flowing,” Kolednik said.
She added even the most experienced person would have difficulty in the water near the Freeport bridge.
Women will be missed While she wasn’t close with Martz, Kolednik said she was a great person and a loss to their social community. “When I met her in the group, she was just like a ray of sunshine. She was the sweetest thing. She was just smiley and happy. You could just tell that she had a good soul. She will definitely be missed, because people like that don’t come around too often,” Kolednik said.
Shane Martz remembers his sister, Annette, as a proud dance mom and an amazing friend, who cherished long-term friendships throughout her life. He noted she spent many years working as a veterinary assistant, always showing immense care for animals in the clinic. Those are the attributes he wants people to remember when they think of his sister. “Annette was very protective of her family and friends; someone you always wanted on your side. Her kindness and dedication will be deeply missed by all who knew her,” Shane said.
Charlene Wilson, who knew Martz and Taylor and was also at Monday’s media briefing for an update on her missing friends, posted Tuesday the search for them was over. “You will truly be missed Annette Martz, now you and Rachel Taylor go fly high and watch over all of us. Don’t you ladies worry your kids will be taken care (of); we got you ladies.”
Holly Wong, who befriended Taylor in 1997 in hairdressing school, said the pair spent a lot of time together as single parents, taking their kids to Bingeman Park. A few years later, Taylor chose a different career path but the two remained friends.
“I’m almost at a loss of words,” Wong said, noting Taylor loved the water and was the kind of person who never picked a social group, instead hanging out with everybody. “She was really an accepting soul and really kind. She was happily remarried in 2019 and was getting her life together. She had a house and things were going really well, I was just so happy for her.”
Wong noted the whole ordeal “blows her mind,” especially since the water appears calm in the photos Martz posted Saturday. “I’m still stunned that it happened so quickly.” Taylor is survived by her husband, Sam, and son, Devynn.
Search continues for two missing women in the Grand River
By Jennifer K. Baker CTV
Updated July 15, 2024 5:20 p.m. EDT
The search continues for two missing women who reportedly ran into trouble while boating on the Grand River in Kitchener, Ont. over the weekend. A witness called emergency services Saturday, at around 9:30 p.m., stating that they saw two boaters in distress near King Street East and River Road East.
Waterloo Regional Police said their teams searched Saturday night and again on Sunday, but were ultimately unsuccessful in finding the women or their boat. Search teams, which included OPP dive experts, returned to the Grand River on Monday.
Police also held a press conference to update the public on their efforts. “Our ongoing hope is that we do recover them and bring some closure to their families and friends,” Const. Melissa Quarrie said. Police could not comment on whether it was a rescue or recovery mission. The search teams, they explained, are facing multiple challenges on the water.
“It is quite a treacherous location, at the bottom of a dam,” Supt. Brenna Bonn said, adding that it’s also near a “turbulent catch basin.” The other challenge is the rainy weather. “It obviously impacts the flow of the river,” Bonn explained. “We have been in contact with the Region of Waterloo and Grand River Conservation [Authority] in regards to impacting the flow of the water and what we can do to change [it], in order to assist with our efforts.”
Police said their search is currently contained to one specific area along the Grand River. Drones have also been used multiple times to explore the area.
A Waterloo Regional Police officer at the Grand River near King Street East and River Road East in Kitchener on July 15, 2024. (Dan Lauckner/CTV News)
Waiting for answers
Kim Stach, who visited the search area on Monday, is friends with the women. She said Annette and Rachel are best friends.
“I knew they were both going rafting on Saturday. They posted [about it on social media] and they looked happy. It was a beautiful day,” Stach explained. “I didn’t think anything of it and I was kind of jealous because I was at work and they were out having fun.”
She learned they had gone missing when her daughter got a call from the daughter of one of the missing women.
“We just kind of drove around to every spot we could think of, get out, look, walk and then just waiting for updates,” Stach said. “I’m staying positive because there are children and long-term friendships, and I have to believe that they’re just injured and they can’t get to us. They can’t get help. They’re both strong women and so they’re going to fight to the end.”
Public asked to stay away
Police said members of the public have asked if they can assist in the search, but due to the unpredictable weather, they’re asking everyone to stay away.
“At this time we are strongly advising against anyone coming down to the river,” Quarrie said. “Let the emergency service professionals continue the search, because even for them at this time, it’s very treacherous to be out on the water and slippery underfoot. We wouldn’t want to have an incident where we have another search ongoing.”
Police said they will provide an update on the search Monday evening or Tuesday.
-- With additional reporting by Stefanie Davis
Body recovered from the Grand River in Kitchener
By Jennifer K. Baker, CTV
July 15, 2024 10:07 p.m. EDT
Waterloo Regional Police said a woman’s body has been recovered from the banks of Grand River in Kitchener. “We received a call from the OPP helicopter advising that they had possibly located something in the water,” Supt. Brenna Bonn confirmed Monday. The discovery was made around 6 p.m. near Old Mill Road and Pinnacle Drive.
The woman has not yet been identified. “At this time, we are waiting to confirm the identity of the deceased,” Const. Chris Iden told CTV News in an email.
Search teams have been looking for two women who ran into trouble while out on the Grand River Saturday. A witness said the women appeared to be distress, near King Street East and River Road East, at around 9:30 p.m. They haven’t been seen since.
Old Mill Road, where the body was discovered Monday evening, runs along the Grand River, not far from where the two women were boating on Saturday. Police said teams would continue their search until dusk and then return to the water at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
