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Search underway for Overland Park kayaker missing on Minnesota lake

Officials in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, are searching for Shane White, 39, of Overland Park, whose kayak was found empty on Nest Lake on May 12.
Officials in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, are searching for Shane White, 39, of Overland Park, whose kayak was found empty on Nest Lake on May 12. Courtesy of the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office

Minnesota police are searching for an Overland Park man who went missing while kayaking on Nest Lake.

Shane White, 39, took a kayak out from a rental property on the south side of Nest Lake in Minnesota around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies began searching the lake and surrounding areas around 10:30 a.m. Sunday, when the kayak was reported missing, according to the sheriff’s office. The kayak was found empty three hours later.

Search efforts continued until 9:45 p.m. Sunday with the help of volunteer firefighters, police and EMS personnel, according to the sheriff’s office. They continued Monday.

In Overland Park, White works as an electrical lineman, according to videos shared by his wife on social media. White was in Minnesota on a job when he set out by kayak, according to Kim White.

Photos posted by Kim show the couple with three children and a dog.

“I can’t sleep,” Kim White said, in a video posted to TikTok on Sunday. “Every time I close my eyes, I see his face. I hear his laugh.”

Nest Lake spans nearly 1000 acres of southwestern Minnesota, near larger Green Lake.

In her most recent video, posted Monday evening, Kim White asks residents of nearby Spicer, Minnesota, to search their neighborhoods for signs of Shane.

“I just ask if anybody can help, if anybody lives in the surrounding areas, if you can just check out on your properties and just help us in our search and continue to pray for Shane,” Kim White said.

Ilana Arougheti
The Kansas City Star
Ilana Arougheti (they/she) is The Kansas City Star’s Jackson County watchdog reporter, covering local government and accountability issues with a focus on eastern Jackson County .They are a graduate of Northwestern University, where she studied journalism, sociology and gender studies. Ilana most recently covered breaking news for The Star and previously wrote for the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and Raleigh News & Observer. Feel free to reach out with questions or tips! Support my work with a digital subscription
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