The body of a paddleboarder who went missing May 5 on Graham Lake in Ellsworth was recovered Friday evening.
Grayson Mote, 20, who had been missing since the morning of May 5, was found Friday at 6:30 p.m. by a family member who was searching the lake for him by boat, according to Mark Latti, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Mote was reported missing on May 5 after he left his family camp to go paddleboarding and didn’t return for over an hour and a half. His body was found 10 days later a little less than a quarter of a mile from shore, Latti said.
After being brought to shore by a Maine Marine Patrol officer, Mote was transported to the state’s medical examiner’s office, Latti said.
The discovery ends a multi-agency search that primarily focused on a large cove on the western side of Graham Lake, north of Jesses Beach Way.
Authorities with various state and local agencies assisted with the search, including the Maine Warden Service, Maine Forest Service, Maine Marine Patrol, state police and Ellsworth police and fire departments. Mote’s friends and family were also involved in the effort, Latti said.
Officials relied on boats, aircraft, sonar equipment, dive squads, submersible drones and ground teams to conduct the search.
Mote was believed to not have been using a personal flotation device, according to a previous department statement. Latti last week said conditions were windy that day but that he did not have specific details on the weather on the lake at the time.
Local daytime temperatures on May 5 were in the high 40s Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service.
Mote, who was a high school wrestler, made headlines in 2023 after he performed the Heimlich maneuver on an opponent who was choking. The opponent, who was a student from Calais, survived the ordeal, according to reporting at the time by WABI. Mote, a senior at the time, was interning with the Ellsworth high school’s athletic director.
Mote is the son of current Ellsworth Police Department Sgt. Kelvin Mote and former Ellsworth City Councilor Tammy Mote.
