Officials recover body of man who disappeared underwater on Lake St. Clair

60-year-old man goes under after jumping into water for swim

GROSSE POINTE FARMS, Mich. – The Coast Guard and multiple police agencies were on Lake St. Clair on Tuesday night, searching for a man who went underwater while taking a swim.

Officials said a couple out on their boat near Lake Shore Drive decided to jump in the water for a swim. The 60-year-old man went under and didn't resurface. Officials have been searching the lake for five hours.

The missing boater's body was recovered on Wednesday afternoon and the family has been notified, according to the Grosse Pointe Farms Department of Public Safety. 

"There was a husband and wife out on their boat about a mile offshore from the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club," said Ensign Justin Bommer, of the U.S. Coast Guard. "What we were told was that they were going for a swim. The boat started to drift away. They realized it and tried to get back to the boat. When they were going back to the boat, the wife turned around and tried to see where the husband was and she couldn't find him."

Their boat had drifted to the point that the woman couldn't make it back either.

"Another local boater -- a good Samaritan -- picked up the wife and they immediately contacted the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club and started looking for her husband," Bommer said. "After that, they called the Coast Guard and we commenced our searching."


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Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.