Swimmer, 65, missing in Detroit River or Lake Erie

7/7/2009

POINTE MOUILLE, Mich. - U.S. and Canadian authorities Monday spent hours searching to no avail for a 65-year-old man near the point at which the Detroit River flows into western Lake Erie.

The man's identity and hometown were not released. It was not known if the search would resume this morning.

Officials from the U.S. Coast Guard said crews as far south as Toledo were brought in for the search, which began in northern Monroe County upon notification of the man's disappearance at 2:46 p.m. The area that was searched is just south of the Lake Erie Metropark.

Assisting the Coast Guard were the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and the Canadian Coast Guard.

A spokesman for the Coast Guard station in Detroit, which was coordinating the search, said the man went swimming in shallow water off the Pointe Mouille State Game Area with a male companion as their boat was anchored. The boat's anchor worked itself loose, though, stranding the pair in the water.

The two men were unable to stay together. One was rescued shortly after the ordeal began, the spokesman said.