Couple die on fishin trip

[Lee Borgersen]

  Minnesota couple die during fishing trip in Iceland.

 May 22, 2018 at 6:59 p.m.

  ......
 Janet Veit and her husband, Brian Schumacher, died over the weekend while fishing in Iceland. S
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND—A southeastern Minnesota couple died in a fishing accident Sunday, May 19, while on vacation in Iceland.

Janet Veit's sister confirmed their deaths on Facebook.


There were conflicting accounts about what happened to the La Crescent residents..

The U.S. Embassy in Iceland told the family that Veit fell out of a boat while fishing on a lake, and her husband, Brian Schumacher, jumped in to save her.

However, Veit's sister, Patrice Veit, of River Falls, Wis., told Minnesota Public Radio that Veit tried to save Schumacher when he apparently fell into deep water. They were then both swept into the frigid lake just east of Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.

A report on the Iceland Monitor said the two were pulled from the water but could not be resuscitated.

According to the Houston County News, the 48-year-old Veit was a veterinarian at the Hillside Animal Hospital in nearby La Crosse, Wis. She joined the clinic in 1996 after graduating from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and was originally from Mooreton in southeast North Dakota and attended high school in nearby Wyndmere.

Schumacher, also 48, was a laboratory technician at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse. He was a graduate of La Crescent-Hokah High School.

Both Veit and Schumacher had taken up fly fishing recently and worked as fishing guides in the La Crescent area.

"Brian had supported TU in a wide variety of ways over the past few years and was a regular photo contributor to the newsletter," Minnesota Trout Unlimited said on its Facebook page. "Brian and Janet's photography of trout and the waters of SE Minnesota will continue to highlight their love of the Driftless and all waters in the years to come."

"In a world of wonderful people, Janet and Brian were pretty near the top," Patrice Veit wrote on Facebook. "They loved their families, their friends, their colleagues, their dogs and cats, and most importantly, each other."

Funeral arrangements were pending the return of the couple's bodies to Minnesota.

The Iceland Monitor said the couple was fishing on the south end of Lake Þingvallavatn, Iceland's largest lake.

According to the Iceland Monitor, people are often unaware of how dangerous it can be due to the changeable weather and extremely cold water.

               

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