Three dead in separate drownings; 1 still missing

FERRYSBURG, Mich. (WOOD) — Emergency crews responded to a number of drownings in Lake Michigan and nearby channels on Wednesday, with at least three bodies recovered and a fourth still missing.

The first drowning happened around 7:30 pm at North Beach in South Haven. Five people, two adults and three kids, were struggling in the water, the Van Buren County sheriff told News 8. They were able to get two adults and one kid out of the water.

The young boy, who is around 7 or 8 years old, washed up on shore, the sheriff said. The sheriff says CPR was administered and he was brought to the hospital, but he died.

The sheriff said the adult, a 33-year-old man, had tried saving him. He is presumed to have drowned, the South Haven Police Department said in a release.

Late Wednesday evening the water was too rough for first responders to have boats out. They will resume their search at 7 am Thursday, the sheriff said. The public is asked to stay away from the beach.

Police say the 33-year-old man is from Ohio and the 7-year-old is from Texas.

South Haven police say a red flag was flying by the pier and a yellow flag was flying to the north. Witnesses told police that the conditions at the lake had “deteriorated rapidly before the incident.”

At North Shore Beach in Ferrysburg, a teenager started struggling in the water around 7:50 pm, the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office said in a release. It said the 16-year-old from Norton Shores was at the beach with a church group. Deputies say while swimming, water conditions pushed him out of the designated swimming area.

Beachgoers tried to save him but were not able to reach him before he went under. Multiple agencies, including the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office dive team and the Coast Guard, were on scene looking for him, dispatch told News 8. First responders recovered his body from him.

Deputies say life-saving efforts were unsuccessful and the teenager died.

The Grand Haven Tribune reports a 60-year-old man also drowned Wednesday. It reports he drowned in the Grand River channel and deputies have recovered his body from him.