Police find body of 2nd boater missing on Lake Erie

6/25/2007
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONROE, Mich. -- Police said Monday they had recovered the body of the second of two boaters who went missing last week, when authorities found their capsized boat in Lake Erie.

Janet Hayes of the Ontario Provincial Police said the body was found Sunday in the lake on Colchester Beach, south of Windsor. The Monroe County sheriff's department identified the boater as Rick Dolney, 57, of Dearborn Heights.

Dolney's body was recovered floating in the water near shore, said sheriff's Capt. Maryanne Ortman.

The body of the other boater, Lewis Styes of Belleville, was pulled from the lake on Friday four miles northwest of Middle Sister Island, about 20 miles south of Detroit. The 59-year-old's body was identified with the help of tattoos. He was found wearing a personal flotation device.

The U.S. Coast Guard and other authorities began an intensive search after finding Dolney's 17-foot fiberglass boat unoccupied and partially submerged near the Detroit River lighthouse and the river's East Outer Channel Thursday morning.

The boat was undamaged and an expended flare was found nearby. Two life jackets also were found floating in the water about two miles away.

Authorities have not determined what caused the boat to capsize. Ortman said investigators are speculating that the vessel, which had low gunwales, may have been swamped by a larger craft.

Coast Guard officials say Dolney told family members he was taking Styes to dinner in Canada and for a boat ride.

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