Search for Canoeist Ends in Tragedy

A search for a missing person ended in tragedy after a canoe flipped over in Lake Whitehall in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.

Crews located the body of a 23-year-old Nicholas Horton Franklin, Massachusetts, shortly before 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

It started out as a normal Saturday night for a couple hosting a party at their home. They were cleaning up when Mary-Ann Guild says she could hear odd noises coming from the backyard.

"Then I heard banging at my back door," she said. "It was a young man, and I, just out of reflex, let him in - probably because I have a son about the same age."

That 24-year-old man from Franklin told the couple he had been at a party on an island in the middle of the lake. Two others were in a canoe with him when the boat flipped over. He swam about 15 minutes to shore, right to the couple's backyard.

"He was so distressed, he was just discombobulated, he was cold," said Warner Guild. "He was dripping wet and freezing. He thought he was going to die."

The man told the Guilds he lost his other two friends in the water. A 22-year-old woman from Franklin swam to shore a little further down the lake, but Horton never made it out of the water.

"The water was cold, so that probably contributed, but I don't know the whole - exactly what happened," said Hopkinton Fire Deputy Chief Stephen Slaman. "It's under investigation."

Department officials say the lake closes 30 minutes after sunset. The Guilds say the man told them there was alcohol on the island.

He wasn't wearing a life vest when he knocked on the door. Wearing one is required by Massachusetts law.

Now, this family will face a harsh reality every time they look out into their backyard.

"We've lived here for so long, and nothing like this has ever happened," said Warren Guild.

"Having that young man in our house last night, and now knowing his friend is gone, it's just very upsetting," said Mary-Ann Guild.