Michael Allen Wagar -- Missing Since Independence Day 2003

Details from NamUs**: 

Michael was helming a 15-foot aluminum boat on Lake Pend Oreille when the boat overturned in foul weather. 

Missing Person: Michael Allen Wagar
Last-contact date: July 4th, 2003 (maybe July 3rd)
The area where the MP was last seen: Bayview, Idaho
Link to government source: NamUs MP#6849 

---

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: White/Caucasian
Sex: Male
Age at time of disappearance: 46 years old
Birthdate: Michael Allen Wagar was born between July 5th, 1956, and July 4th, 1957.
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Scar: No scars known
Height/weight: 5-foot-9 to 6-foot-0 and 150 to 180 pounds
BMI*: Michael Allen Wagar was in the normal range for BMI.

Tattoos: Michael Allen Wagar did not have any tattoos associated with his profiles. If you know that the missing person did have tattoos, then please post a remark at the end of this blog post on the matter.

Michael Allen Wagar was last heard from on July 4th, 2003 when he was 46 years of age. This individual is missing after a boating incident on Lake Pend Oreille. He has now been missing for 18 years as of the original publication date of this blog post. Given the circumstances, he is presumed dead and memorial services were held for him in mid-July of 2003.

Sat, Jul 12, 2003 – 17 · The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington) · Newspapers.com

Lake Pend Oreille is a lake north of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. When someone falls into a lake and drowns it often sets forth this sequence of events, especially for males:

1. First, the body sinks as water replaces oxygen in any interior cavities.
2. Next, organisms that remain alive in the body continue to produce gases.
3. When these gases fill the body, it can rise to the surface again.
4. Decomposition and organisms or animals eating the body eventually cause the gasses to release and the body again sinks.

It's often after Step 3 that there's the best chance to find a drowned individual. Otherwise, he can remain lost in the water for incredibly long times. It's not really well known what happens to bodies that sink and remain lost in lakes for decades but the parts can become severed from one another over the years. When dealing with decades, you have to wonder how far the average flow of the water can take a body.

The missing person did not have any articles or items associated with his missing person's reports, at least of the sources that I consulted. However, there was a suggestion in one newspaper article I read that they recovered some of his effects. Reading the newspaper article below fills one with pessimism regarding the chances of finding Wagar. If Websleuths want to help with this case then it would be by looking at John Doe databases for unidentified people that are associated with the shores of the lake and the Bayview area. However, in cases like this, a full skeleton might not be found: even just a mandible on the beach could be of this missing person.

Sat, Jul 12, 2003 – 4 · The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington) · Newspapers.com

If you like this blog, then you can join the affiliated Facebook group: Missing Persons Commentary.

Author: Shane Lambert (Vancouver, Canada)

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert (Vancouver, Canada) is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of March 2021.

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: Non-opinionated information at this site generally comes from government sources like NamUs, Canada's Missing, or police reports. Other sources may be used at the writer's discretion.