Two dead after missing helicopter found: Provincial Police

Ken Mielke of Kitchener is pictured in this photo from his Facebook page. Mielke is one of two men believed to be aboard a Robinson R44 helicopter missing 100 kilometres southwest of Timmins.

OPP say the missing Robinson R-44 has been found, with two bodies on board.

Officials had been searching for a missing helicopter with two local men in it since they were last heard from on Tuesday.

41-year-old Ken Mielke from Kitchener and 24-year-old Jeremie Belanger from Guelph had taken the helicopter to finish some work about 100 kilometres southwest of Timmins.

Both men worked for Apex International.

Police say the aircraft was located shortly after 5 p.m. Friday evening, by one of the men’s colleagues who was assisting with the search.

It was found in a heavily wooded area south of Foleyet, 16 kilometres from where it took off.

"As soon as we got the coordinate, we sent our emergency response unit to the location and unfortunately, there was two bodies located. They were deceased," said Det. Const. Martin Mailloux-Ratte, of the Ontario Provincial Police.

“The forester that was with me noticed tree tops that were broken, fresh breaks. We then circled the area and confirmed it was indeed the aircraft that went down,” said Chris Vankoughnett, owner and chief pilot at Apex.

The regional coroner is at the scene to identify the two bodies.

Police will not confirm the deceased found are indeed the two men, but say that the helicopter found was the one they had been looking for.

Vankoughnettdescribes the two men as polar opposites, who became friends after working closely together over the last few months.

“Two awesome guys and just a very tragic end,” said Vankoughnett.

Mielke was engaged to be married this fall.

The Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.