GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Friends and family were raising money Thursday afternoon for their loved one who died in the Muskegon River.
Dwight Coleman, 25, was tubing last Saturday down the Muskegon River near the Devil's Hole area when we went missing. His body was found nearly a mile and a half away; he drowned. He was not wearing a life jacket.
His friend and proclaimed family member Jennifer Langmesser says they're hosting car washes at local AutoZones to raise $4,000 to cremate him. Coleman didn't have a life insurance policy, she says, so any end-of-life services have to be paid for out of pocket.
"It's my way of giving back to the family," Langmesser said. "I have organization skills so I can put it together, I just need everybody to come out here and do it."
The AutoZone at Division & Hall donated some of the materials they needed to hold Thursday's car wash.
Langmesser works as a server at the Applebee's in Caledonia, and says she's donating any tips she gets through the weekend to help the cause.
Langmesser remembers Coleman has a handsome and funny man, whose big loving family helped welcome her as one of their own when she was in the foster system as a teenager.
"Dwight is just a wonderful person and he's going to be missed," Langmesser said.
A little more than $1,000 was raised from Thursday's car wash. Langmesser says they'll be at the AutoZone at Leonard & Fuller to try and raise more to reach their goal. There's also a GoFundMe pagethat people can go to.
