Article published June 12, 2007
Bodies of 2 missing men found in lake
Toledo, Mich. residents die in separate incidents
BLADE STAFF
MONROE — Authorities yesterday recovered the bodies of two men who disappeared in separate incidents on Lake Erie this weekend.
James Carter, 44, of Toledo, had been missing since Sunday afternoon after he went swimming from a boat near Turtle Island in Maumee Bay. Turtle Island is about four miles northeast of the Ottawa River’s mouth.
Gregory Earl Zentgraf of Flat Rock, Mich., went missing Friday after the boat from which he was fishing capsized during a storm.
Mr. Carter was taking a boat ride with family and friends when a group decided to go swimming off the boat, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. The group became distressed and people on shore heard calls for help and responded, taking Mr. Carter’s wife and 12-year-old daughter ashore.
But Mr. Carter went under the surface and sheriff’s divers and Toledo firefighters using sonar and cameras did not locate his body until about1:30 p.m.
Mr. Zentgraf’s body was found by the U.S. Coast Guard about 7:30 a.m. yesterday after a fisherman reported seeing something floating in the water about a mile offshore, southeast of Monroe.
Mr. Zentgraf had left the Bolles Harbor public access site about 4 p.m. Friday to go fishing with his soon-to-be brother-in-law, Devon Boik, of Newport, Mich., in Mr. Boik’s 18-foot boat, the sheriff’s office said. They were about three miles east of port when the storm stirred up four-foot to six-foot waves.
Both men had donned life jackets before the boat capsized, the sheriff’s office said. The men then floated in the water for about 30 minutes before rough waters separated them.
Mr. Boik, 33, was found by the Coast Guard about 7 p.m. Friday and taken back to Bolles Harbor. He was treated for minor injuries and fatigue at Mercy Memorial Hospital of Monroe.
The Coast Guard had suspended its search for Mr. Zentgraf on Saturday morning.
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