Edward Konrad Ludwig -- Missing From Banff National Park Since 1986

Details from Canada's Missing**: 

"On May 30, 1986, Edward Ludwig left his work site at Bow Valley Provincial Park, AB, to go boating on Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park, AB. Mr. Ludwig was despondent when he left. His vehicle was located at Lake Minnewanka, AB and an unoccupied boat was found floating on the lake."

Missing Person: Edward Konrad Ludwig
Last-contact date: May 30th, 1986
The area where the MP was last seen: The Lake Minnewanka area of Banff National Park, less than ten minutes driving north from the town of Banff.
Link to government source: MP @ Canada's Missing

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sex: Male
Age at time of disappearance: 27 years old
Birthdate: Edward Konrad Ludwig was born between May 31st, 1958, and May 30th, 1959 based on his reported age at the last date of reported contact.
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Scar: Chin
Height/weight: 6'3" and 194 pounds
BMI*: Edward Konrad Ludwig was in the normal range for BMI.
Tattoos: Edward Konrad Ludwig did not have any tattoos associated with his profiles.

Edward Konrad Ludwig was last heard from on May 30th, 1986 when he was 27 years of age. This individual has now been missing for about 35 years as of the original publication date of this blog post.

His car was found near Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park. That's just 20 minutes or so driving west from Canmore, the town that he is missing from. Canmore is a town that I'm a former resident of and I've been to Lake Minnewanka many times.

What stands out about this case is that he was reported to be "despondent" in his profile at Canada's Missing. Furthermore, his vehicle was found at Lake Minnewanka and his empty "boat" was floating in the lake. The location of his boat, which was actually an inflatable raft according to journalism from 1986, is interesting because it really sounds like he fell in the lake or, perhaps, killed himself at the lake. 

There was a search of the area with dogs and divers employed. The missing person was a park ranger whose father was a judge, so I think a very diligent search would have been performed.

03 Jul 1986, Thu Calgary Herald (Calgary, Alberta, Alberta, Canada) Newspapers.com

Lake Minnewanka is a glacial lake, meaning that it is fed by melting snow off of the caps of the mountains in the area. You do not go into Lake Minnewanka unless it's absolutely at the peak time of summer. Even then, you would only go in the lake for about a minute and if you don't mind a chill afterward. The water is very cold at this lake and on May 30th, the day in 1986 when he went missing, the water would have been absolutely frigid. 

I waded in this lake in the summer of 2020 and my feet were hurting from the lake-water temperature in only minutes. I didn't brave dipping in and noticed that people who did, exited the lake after only moments -- this in the summertime. The following video is one I made at Lake Minnewanka. Notice, that I can't stop talking about how cold the lake is.

When I read the case details, I don't see his raft drifting out to the middle of the lake without him in it. Furthermore, I don't see someone going out with him and then pushing him in and swimming to shore. The lake is so cold that even short swims in May would be incredibly risky. Whether he fell in the lake by accident or attempted suicide, someone submerged in Lake Minnewanka would be at risk of hypothermia.

To me, suicide via Lake Minnewanka doesn't sound like a comfortable to die. However, it is hard to look past Canada's Missing description that states that this individual was despondent for some reason. Furthermore, I found no headlines mentioning suspected foul play in this case.

If a male drowns in a lake, then there is a known process that usually occurs. The individual sinks as water replaces oxygen in his body cavities. Then, the organisms that are still alive in the body continue to produce gasses. These gasses help bring the body to the surface. It's at this point when the body might be found and this initial process can take about a week. However, eventually, the gasses will release and the body will sink -- perhaps for ages.

Finding Edward Ludwig now would mean staying open-minded to the possibility that any human remains found in the area are his. Due to how much time has passed since 1986, his body might not be intact.

Please, take a moment to share this blog post on social media using hashtags relevant to the missing person's area. Also, please include the website hashtag #MPCSL.

Author: @UncoolNegated on Twitter

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

@UncoolNegated on Twitter is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of March 2021.

If you like this blog, then you can join the affiliated Facebook group: MPC Facebook Group

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.
Disclaimer: Whenever possible, government sources are preferred for getting the details of a missing persons case. However, any source that the article writer deems reputable may be used.

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