A Grand Rapids man drowned after the jet ski he and his son rode overturned on Dumont Lake on Sunday, July 15.
Gregory Troy Williams was pronounced dead after the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office dive team recovered his body near the middle of the lake.
Those on a nearby boat called 911 at approximately 3:42 p.m. after the son waved for help.
Police said witnesses saw the son piloting the personal watercraft with his father and it flipped after hitting another boat’s wake. After their jet ski continued away from them, they tried swimming to a sunken island in the middle of the lake; after the son lost sight of his father, he waved for help.
Visibility in the water was zero; the sheriff’s marine patrol searched an area approximately 350 by 200 yards wide with on-board sonar to assist the dive team. They located Williams’ body after approximately four hours of searching, at 7:53 p.m. in 35 feet of water.
Water temperatures varied from 85 degrees on the surface to approximately 41 degrees at the lake bottom.
Police did not release the age of either the son or the victim.
Police said Williams was not wearing a life jacket. Michigan law requires everyone on board or being towed by a personal watercraft to wear a personal flotation device.
Assisting the sheriff’s office was the Allegan City Police Department, Wayland EMS, Hopkins Fire Department, Allegan Fire District, Red Cross Canteen, the Sheriff’s Office Victim’s Services Unit and the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team.
The incident remains under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office.
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