Emergency personnel work in Loyalsock Creek on Saturday. PHILIP HOLMES/Sun-Gazette

The body of a kayaker who has been missing since Saturday morning when his watercraft overturned in Loyalsock Creek was recovered late Monday afternoon, when a city firefighter spotted it in the water, authorities confirmed. In a brief telephone conversation just before 6 p.m., Lycoming County Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. said he was en route to Mill Street in Montoursville to pick up the body and take it to the Forensic Center at UPMC Williamsport. The man’s identity was expected to be released on Tuesday.

The victim’s kayak capsized in some rapids, a half a mile south of Broad Street in the borough, about 11:15 a.m., according to an investigator with the state Fish and Boat Commission. Riding solo in his kayak, the victim was kayaking with a friend and the friend’s 4-year-old son, both of whom were in a second watercraft.

Both kayaks overturned, throwing all three into the creek. The father and son, both wearing life jackets, made it safely out of the water, but the victim, a very experienced kayaker, was likely pulled under the water by the strong current, investigators said.

Efforts to locate the body on Saturday and Sunday following lengthy searches were unsuccessful. The fish and boat commission decided to conduct another search about 5 p.m. Monday. A city firefighter, assisting with the effort, spotted the victim about 5:30 p.m. in the middle of the creek, near the 500-600 block of Mill Street. The body was loaded onto a boat and brought to shore.