A tragic incident unfolded on the waters of Manistee Lake this past Sunday, when a Dewitt man, Gary Searles, 63, lost his life in a drowning accident. WWJ reports that Searles was with his wife, attempting to launch their boat at the Stronach Boat Launch in Stronach Township, around 2:40 p.m. when their boat started to drift from the dock. Acting to salvage the situation, Searles entered the water and began to tragically struggle before going under.
According to MLive, the Manistee County Sheriff’s Office received a call and was promptly at the scene, where deputies found Searles facedown. They quickly pulled him from the lake and commenced CPR, but their efforts to resuscitate him, unfortunately, did not succeed. It appears that Searles was overtaken by the water as he attempted to retrieve the drifting boat.
First responders at the incident included the Manistee County Sheriff’s Office, who led the recovery efforts, supported by MMR EMS, Stronach Township Fire/EMS, the United States Coast Guard, the Michigan DNR, and the Manistee County Central Dispatch. The Sheriff's Office is currently still investigating the precise details of how Searles came to struggle in the water.
Detailing the same event, UPNorthLive conveyed that after deputies had pulled Searles from the water and began life-saving efforts, those efforts were declared unsuccessful. It was during the process of the boat launch, as Searles' wife watched, that the boat began to suddenly drift away, prompting Searles to decisively act, though ultimately leading to the fatal outcome.
