 Divers search Lake Michigan this afternoon near Beverly Shores, Ind. WGN-TV (June 18, 2012) |
The U.S Coast Guard and local and state emergency crews were searching for a New York man who disappeared in Lake Michigan off Beverly Shores, Ind., after taking a small inflatable raft into the lake with a friend this afternoon.
The man, from the Bronx, has been missing since about 3 p.m., when an emergency call was made saying he was lost in the lake, Indiana Department of Naturla Resources Officer Gene Davis said in a news conference this afternoon.
The man had bought a $20 raft on Sunday and tried to get friends he was visiting to go out on the lake with him, finally convincing a woman he knows to go out onto the lake this afternoon, Davis said. The two went out once, had trouble in the water and went back to shore, with the man swimming and pulling the raft to fight waves and wind, but after a rest, went back out, Davis said.
The second time, the two got farther out and once again decided to return to shore, but after getting out to pull the raft, the man was unable to tow it a second time, and so decided to get back in, Davis said. When the man tried to get in, winds overturned the raft, and sent both into the water.
The woman was rescued by a construction worker who heard her cries for help, but the man was missing by the time the rescuer tried to locate him, and divers as well as boat and helicopter crews searched for him into the night tonight. The raft was later located by the Coast Guard.
The seach was expected to be called off tonight if not successful, and resumed in the morning, Davis said.
