Drowned men were in town to help parents

The body of 26-year-old Soloman Oyukuluk was pulled from the Ottawa River Tuesday, July 3, 2012.

Police have recovered the body of a second Nunavut man who drowned in the Ottawa River Saturday night.

Family members said 21-year-old Ian Shooyuk and 26-year-old Soloman Oyukuluk from Arctic Bay were in Ottawa to escort their parents to medical appointments.

Shooyuk's body was found about ten to 15 feet from shore Monday morning, while Oyukuluk's was recovered Tuesday afternoon.

"They were both really nice boys and they were just getting into life," said their cousin Lucas Attagutsiak. "I was totally devastated, lost, hurt and confused because I never thoight these boys wuld actually drown right in Ottawa."

The pair were staying at Larga Baffin, a facility for visitors from Nunavut and the Northwest Territories on Richmond Road.

Larga Baffin is close to the Deschenes Rapids, where the pair waded out too far while walking with a group of people around 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

Oyukuluk's body was wrapped in a Canadian flag as it was taken out Tuesday, as he was a member of the Canadian Rangers - an army reserve unit that patrols the country's north.

Police said the pair didn't know how to swim and that alcohol was involved.

Attagutsiak said many Inuit visitors are drawn to the warmer waters in southern Canada.

"It's actually their first time being able to touch the water," he said. 'It's nice and warm where the water isn't freezing, that got them more tempted to go in the water."

Arctic Bay is a community of about 900 people on the northern part of Baffin Island.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Ellen Mauro