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Police End Major Searches for Drowned Walker EMT; No Body Recovered

Posted at 10:03 PM, Jul 03, 2013
and last updated 2013-07-03 22:07:36-04

Vigil Held for Missing SwimmerOTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Sheriffs say that they are ending the underwater search for Walker EMT John English, 47, after he disappeared during a swim gone wrong in Lake Michigan Sunday.

English’s body was not recovered during a three-day -long search that included camera equipment and sidescan sonar technology.  His family held funeral services for him Wednesday after a prayer vigil Tuesday evening.

According to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department, English and a group of friends were on a 37-foot Sea Ray traveling from Muskegon to Grand Haven on Lake Michigan when the operator asked if anyone wanted to go for a swim, and English jumped in.  He came under distress during that swim, and wind and current speeds made a rescue impossible.

Sheriffs say they will continue shoreline and water surface searches in an effort to locate his body.