A 44-year-old Ames man died Sunday after his canoe went over a dam and capsized.

Capt. Gary Foster, Story County chief deputy sheriff, said the man was canoeing with his 17-year-old son on the Skunk River. The canoe went over a dam north of Riverside Road near Ada Hayden Heritage Park in north Ames, and the man and his son were thrown from the canoe.

Foster said the son was wearing a life jacket but the father was not.

He said the son saw the father struggling, then lost sight of him in the water.

The son left the water and went back about a quarter of a mile to where their GMC Yukon was parked and broke the driver’s side window to retrieve a cell phone and call for help, he said.

Foster said that call came in a little after 3 p.m.

George McConeghy, president of Central Iowa Underwater Search and Rescue, said the group was notified by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at 3:20 p.m. Eight divers responded.

Dan Kromming, a diver for the search and rescue team, said four divers took a boat into the water. They recovered the body at about 4 p.m. Kromming said the body was transported to Mary Greeley Medical Center.

The police are not releasing the names of the father or the son involved because the man’s wife is out of the country. She was expected to return Sunday night.

The Gilbert Fire Department, Ames Fire Department, Ames Police, Story County Sheriff’s Office and the Central Iowa Underwater Search and Rescue all responded to the emergency.