1 dead, 1 missing from fishing trip

TOWNSHIP 14 – High winds and choppy water Sunday hindered the search for a second fisherman missing and presumed drowned after a fishing trip on Cathance Lake turned deadly.

The body of Tommy Hiland, 57, of Princeton was found washed ashore near the Lake Road, just off Route 191, at around 6 a.m. Sunday. Wardens said he was not wearing a life vest.

Wardens did not identify his companion and plan to resume their search for the missing fisherman this morning.

An older-model Grand Lake Stream canoe the men were using was found smashed against rocks. The bow was found a few feet offshore and the stern a few feet away. A red fishing tackle box and a gasoline can were nearby. The boat’s motor was found late Sunday in several feet of water.

Sgt. David Craven of the Maine Warden Service said two life vests and two seat cushions were found.

Hiland’s son Johnny is one of the top 10 studio and session guitar players in country and western music. Gov. John Baldacci honored Johnny last year when he proclaimed Dec. 15 his day. Hiland’s debut CD, “Johnny Hiland,” was released in November to favorable reviews and good sales.

Craven said family members reported the two men missing at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday. They were expected back around 2 p.m.

“There’s landlocked salmon here,” Craven said. “There’s been a lot of people fishing lately. But the weather yesterday was calm first thing in the morning, but then quite a storm blew up here.”

Craven said wardens began searching at the boat landing off Route 191 where Hiland’s truck was found. They searched the lake and camps until around 3 a.m.

“At that time [the wardens] didn’t know where on the lake [they were], so they were combing the lake,” Craven said. “It was just ferocious weather. They were hoping that maybe they had gone ashore.”

At 5 a.m. Sunday wardens resumed the search.

Two fishermen out on the lake early Sunday found Hiland’s body onshore and notified the wardens.

Divers from the Maine Warden Service dive team arrived around noon.

Huge swells and high winds forced wardens to abandon their plan to use the dive team’s boat near where Hiland was found. Instead divers moved their base of operation less than a mile to the Lake Road.

Hitched to tethers, divers searched for the missing fisherman in about 45 feet of water. They plan to expand their search area today.

Friends and family Sunday mourned Hiland’s death. They described him as an outdoorsman who loved fishing and hunting.

Hiland was employed as a pipefitter at Domtar Industries’ pulp and paper mill in Baileyville for the past 36 years.

“Clearly we’ve lost a long-term and valuable employee,” company spokesman Scott Beal said. “The mill’s lost a friend and the maintenance department has lost a skilled craftsman. We are devastated to learn this news. We feel so bad for the family.”

Greg Monk, who worked with Hiland at Domtar, said, “He was heavily involved in Little League and over the years different sports for the kids. He liked his hunting and fishing and was quite involved with that. He was a good family man.”

Princeton Selectman Doreen Wallace, who was at the Hiland house on Sunday, said Tommy’s wife, Grace, who is town clerk and librarian, was holding up “as well as could be expected.”

The couple have three dachshunds. “They were Tommy’s little babies,” Wallace said. “Grace was saying they don’t know what to think because he hasn’t been home. They went everywhere with him in the truck.”

Son Johnny and his wife are expected home today, Wallace said. In April, Tommy and Grace Hiland traveled to Nashville to celebrate their son’s marriage to Kim Hart.

Pronounced legally blind as an infant, Johnny Hiland, 29, attended Woodland elementary and high schools. He moved to Nashville eight years ago.

As a child, he had pledged to his parents that one day he would perform at the Grand Ole Opry. In 1999, he appeared with Porter Waggoner and Ricky Skaggs.

Johnny Hiland was scheduled to perform on Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., according to information on his Web site.

The Hilands have two other children, Jodi and Jerry.

Judy Harrison contributed to this report.