A Washtenaw County man died Tuesday while kayaking with his grandson in Northfield Township.
According to a press release from the Northfield Township Police Department, officers along with firefighters from the Northfield Township Fire Department, were dispatched at 10:51 a.m. to Horseshoe Lake on the report of a missing kayaker.
Police report that a 69-year-old man from Ann Arbor was on the lake with his grandson when the kayak overturned. While the child was located and retrieved from the water, the missing man went under water and did not resurface.
With the assistance of the Washtenaw County Rescue Dive Team, the Green Oak Police and Fire departments and authorities with the Huron Clinton Metroparks, a search for the man using boats and drones was conducted, but failed to locate him. The Washtenaw County Dive team then began searching the water using sonar and was able to recover the man in 21 feet of water. He was pronounced deceased at 2:21 p.m.
The man’s body was turned over to the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner, while the incident remains under investigation.
“The man’s family was present during the search,” said Northfield Township Police Chief Martin B. Smith. “The hearts of the entire Washtenaw and Livingston County’s first responders go out to his family for their loss.”
