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Emergency crews stand by near Little Sable Lighthouse. Photo by Jason Miney Photography, Ludington.
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By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.
PENTWATER — One person is dead and another missing following a boating incident in Lake Michigan Sunday evening. No official reports have been released yet, but emergency radio traffic indicated that three people were fishing in a boat, attempting to reel in a fish somewhere between Little Sable Point and Pentwater. When the attempts were unsuccessful, two people entered the water.
The US Coast Guard was initially called and was able to retrieve one of the victims and bring that person to the Pentwater Yacht Club, which happened between 9:30 to 10 p.m. Radio traffic indicated that Coast Guard personnel were performing CPR while en-route to Pentwater. OCP witnessed the decease’s body being transferred from an ambulance to a hearse.
Following the Coast Guard’s retrieval of the first victim, emergency crews seemed to have difficulty locating the boat in which the incident took place. Eventually the boat was located, brought to Pentwater, placed on a trailer, and impounded by the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office. The status of the third person involved was unclear nor was the gender of any of those involved.
Rescue personnel were using Little Point Sable Lighthouse and the Pentwater Yacht Club as bases for the search and rescue operation. OCSO Lt. Craig Mast told OCP that he was stationed on the top of the lighthouse. Personnel from US Coast Guard, Oceana County Sheriff’s Office, Pentwater Police Department, Mason County Sheriff’s Office, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Oceana EMS were involved. Others may also have been dispatched as well.
Photographer Jason Miney of Ludington said he was heading to Little Sable Lighthouse to photograph the Perseid meteor shower. As he approached the lighthouse, DNR personnel informed him that the beach was closed due to a rescue operation and asked him to leave, he told OCP.
Crews were still searching as of 1 a.m.
OCP will post more information as it becomes available.
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