ALLEGAN COUNTY (WHTC-AM/FM) — A Grand Rapids man drowned after his personal watercraft (PWC) got flipped by another boat’s wake, according to an Allegan County Sheriff’s Office statement emailed to media.
It happened just before 3:45 p.m. Sunday, July 15, 2018, when police were called to Dumont Lake, which is about four miles north of the City of Allegan. A caller told a 911 dispatcher that a man and his son were on the PWC when it flipped, and that one of them was missing. Marine Division & Dive / Rescue & Recovery Team rushed to Dumont Lake to begin search and rescue efforts.
Witnesses told police the victim and his son were riding the PWC when they had flipped over after hitting a wake created by another vessel. The PWC continued moving so the two tried swimming to a sunken island in the middle of the lake. The operator of the PWC could not see his passenger and waved down another vessel who came to help.
The search quickly turned to a recovery operation; after a four-hour search divers located the body of Gregory Troy Williams of Grand Rapids in approximately 35 feet of water in the middle of the lake. He was taken to shore and pronounced dead at the scene..
Divers searched an area approximately 350 yards long and 200 yards wide. Water temperatures varied from 85 degrees on the surface to approximately 41 degrees on bottom. Water visibility was zero.
Police indicated that drowned man had not been wearing a personal flotation device (life jacket) at the time of the incident.
In announcing the drowning, the sheriff’s office statement included the reminder that Michigan law requires everyone aboard or being towed by a PWC to wear a personal flotation device (life jacket).
Michigan law also requires that every vessel have a personal flotation device for everyone on board or while being towed when operating on the water.
The Sheriff’s Office marine patrol responders were aided by the Allegan City Police Department, Wayland EMS, Hopkins Fire Department, Allegan Twp. Fire Department, Red Cross Canteen, the Sheriff’s Office Victim’s Services Unit and the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team.
The incident remains under investigation by the Allegan County Sherriff’s Office
