Body of man who tried to help struggling swimmers in Lake Erie recovered

Juan Layva went missing Sunday morning

ERIE TOWNSHIP, Mich. – The body of a missing 34-year-old father who went under in Lake Erie trying to help two young boys who were struggling has been found.

Juan Layva went into the water to help the 12-year-old and 13-year-old Sunday morning as they were swimming in the lake several hundred yards east of the Whiting Consumers Energy Power Plant in Erie Township.

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He had called 911 believing the boys were being swept away in the current.

The boys were rescued, but Layva wasn't immediately found.

Monroe County Sheriff Dale Malone said his body was found Monday morning by a dive team in about eight feet of water and 25 to 50 yards from where he went missing.


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