Rescue work in Pere Marquette Park suspended

Ken Kolker and Katie Rosendale

8 hours ago

MUSKEGON, Michigan (WOOD) – Rescue workers in Muskegon have called off the search for a man who is believed to have drowned in Lake Michigan.

Emergency crews spent about seven hours in Pere Marquette Park on Saturday. They suspended their efforts shortly after 9 p.m. and abandoned the search when it became dark.

That afternoon, witnesses reported seeing a man struggling in the water and then drowning.

“Just after 2 p.m., the Muskegon Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a swimmer in distress at the end of the south Pere Marquette Wall, the end of the pier,” said Keith McMillan, Muskegon City Battalion Chief. “And while we were en route, we were notified that the swimmer was submerged.”

McMillan said the swimmer, described by witnesses as a man, was reportedly “quite far away” from the pier.

“The shipping information was 200 feet (from the pier),” he said.

It’s unclear why he was there. There’s a sign on the pier warning people to stay away during thunderstorms, but the lake was mostly calm Saturday afternoon. The water temperature was about 15 degrees.

Rescue crews on about half a dozen boats, some with side-scan sonar, searched the water, mostly south of the pier.

After a few hours, a search and rescue operation turned into a recovery operation, McMillan said.

“This is currently considered a salvage operation,” McMillan told News 8 late Saturday afternoon. “We don’t have any information at this time as to who the possible victim was, but we had many credible witnesses who were on the pier and saw him struggle and go down.”

On Saturday evening, Muskegon police said no one had been reported missing.

Rescue workers plan to return Sunday morning to continue the search.