Empty fishing boat on lakeshore leads to missing teen’s body, Michigan officials say

A fisherman spotted an unoccupied fishing boat on the shoreline of a Michigan lake and decided to tow it back to the boat launch, officials say.

There, the fisherman discovered a pickup truck backed into the launch with an attached boat trailer, but with no one in sight, according to the Alger County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities were called in to investigate at about 12:30 p.m. Friday, July 29.

They “quickly” learned a 16-year-old boy was missing from the Forest Lake Basin campground, according to a news release. The sheriff’s office and other first responders began an “extensive water search and land search.”

The Marquette County teenager was eventually found dead approximately 50 feet off of the Forest Lake Basin shore in about 5 feet of water, officials said.

“The investigation concluded that the victim was attempting to navigate his fishing boat from the camping area to the boat launch when he fell overboard for unknown reasons ultimately drowning,” the sheriff’s office said.

Forest Lake, of Alger County, is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

This story was originally published August 2, 2022 at 10:43 AM with the headline "Empty fishing boat on lakeshore leads to missing teen’s body, Michigan officials say."