Missing West Fargo tuber found safe on Otter Tail River near Battle Lake

A 20-year-old West Fargo man was found safe Thursday night after he was reported missing while tubing on the Otter Tail River near Battle Lake, a close call that ended without injuries and without a prolonged search.

Otter Tail County dispatchers received a 911 call around 9:12 p.m. Thursday from a woman who said the man had become separated from his group on the river northwest of Battle Lake. The Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office said the man was located safe later that night, keeping the incident from becoming a broader water rescue during one of the county’s busiest recreation stretches.

The episode reflects how quickly a routine float can turn into a safety response in the Otter Tail River corridor, where tubing, canoeing, boating and fishing traffic build as temperatures rise. On a river with bends, current and multiple shoreline access points, groups can lose sight of one another fast, especially when daylight fades and the water is crowded with other summer users.

That timing matters in Otter Tail County, where Memorial Day weekend is one of the biggest recreation weekends of the year. Lake traffic, community gatherings and the first wave of summer outings push more people onto local water, from Battle Lake and the Otter Tail River to Otter Tail Lake and other nearby destinations.

State guidance from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says anyone on the water should wear a life jacket, check all safety equipment and leave alcohol on shore. Otter Tail County also maintains a public water safety section, and the county’s sheriff daily activity report is updated daily, giving residents another place to track incidents and conditions as the season gets busier.

Charlie’s Ottertail Tubing, one of the area’s tubing operators, says its season runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day and offers a roughly two-hour tube ride down the Ottertail River, a reminder that the corridor is built for steady summer use. For families planning a float, the safe outcome near Battle Lake shows how important it is to have a clear take-out plan, protect a phone or communication device and make sure someone on shore knows where the group is headed and when it should return.