Canoe floats away, strands couple for 2 days near New Madrid - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff

Canoe floats away, strands couple for 2 days near New Madrid

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When they woke up the next morning, their canoe had floated away. When they woke up the next morning, their canoe had floated away.
Now they have no canoe, no water, and the couple lost some valuable photography equipment. (Source: KFVS photojournalist John Morgan) Now they have no canoe, no water, and the couple lost some valuable photography equipment. (Source: KFVS photojournalist John Morgan)
NEW MADRID, MO (KFVS) -

A couple of Canadian canoers are up a creek, after an incident near New Madrid.

Sharon Riley and Kevin Caners are now staying in a motel in Marston.

Their plan was to paddle the Mississippi River from northern Minnesota to New Orleans.

Friday, the couple set up camp on an island north of New Madrid.

But when they woke up the next morning, their canoe had floated away.

The couple spent two days trying to flag down barges.

Finally, someone saw them and contacted the Coast Guard.

Now they have no canoe, no water, and the couple lost some valuable photography equipment.

"We wake up 5:30 in the morning to get an early start, and where the tent had been 20 feet from the water, a foot or two above where the river was," said Caners. "Suddenly, the water was lapping pretty much right there and the canoe was gone."

They say they'll still somehow make it to New Orleans.

Meantime, they're offering a reward for the return of their canoe.

If you see it, contact the New Madrid County Sheriff's Department.

Copyright 2012 KFVS. All rights reserved.

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