The body of country singer Craig Strickland was found on Monday near an Oklahoma lake where his boat capsized while duck hunting with a friend more than a week ago. He had apparently made it to shore but then died of hypothermia.
Strickland, 29, vocalist for the country rock band Backroad Anthem, was with Chase Moreland, 22, at Kaw Lake while the powerful winter system was hitting on Dec. 26, noted
CNN. The wind was gusting up to 45 miles per hour and the wind chill was as low as 15 degrees.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol told
Us Weekly that Strickland's body was recovered in the Kaw Lake region north of Tulsa.
Morland's body was located two days after the two men left and authorities found their boat overturned on the lake, said CNN. The Oklahoma chief medical examiner's office ruled that Moreland drowned after the boat capsized.
Backroad Anthem posted a tribute to Strickland on its Facebook page on Monday. The post has been shared more than 6,400 times and liked more than 33,800 times.
The singer's wife Helen Strickland shared an Instagram post of the couple sharing the final moments of her husband's life.
"The night of the accident he had fought his way out of the water and up a hill before the stages of hypothermia set in," Helen Strickland said in the caption. "He experienced no pain in his final moments and simply felt like he was falling asleep. They found him lying in the shape of a cross looking up to his Father."
Before Strickland and Moreland set out to hunt, Morland posted an ominous Twitter message mentioning the winter storm.
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