Woman dies after being pulled from Lake Erie near Cedar Point

7/17/2008

SANDUSKY An unresponsive 46-year-old woman was pulled from Lake Erie near the northernmost Cedar Point break wall late Wednesday after she fell overboard from a 54-foot pleasure powerboat, authorities said.

Susan Vastag of Sandusky, who was not wearing a life jacket, was taken to Magruder Memorial Hospital in Port Clinton, where she was pronounced dead on arrival about 11 p.m., said John Wisse, an ODNR spokesman in Columbus.

People aboard a passing Lake Erie Towing boat spotted Ms. Vastag in the water about 9:50 p.m., about 100 yards from the break wall. They pulled her out of the water and tried to resuscitate her but found her unresponsive, said officers at the U.S. Coast Guard s station in Marblehead, Ohio.

She was then taken to the Marblehead station, where she was transported to the hospital. The cause of death was pending an autopsy scheduled at through the Ottawa County Coroner s Office. The incident remained under investigation, officers said.