Search continues for missing Grand Rapids kayaker in Ionia State Recreation Area

BERLIN TWP. — A search resumed Tuesday morning for a kayaker who went missing Sunday evening on Sessions Lake in the Ionia State Recreation Area.

"I've had no update in the last hour or hour-and-a-half, but the search was continuing, and we're doing everything we can," Ionia County Undersheriff Andrew Bucholtz said shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Dive teams from the Michigan State Police and Kent County Sheriff's Office joined the Ionia County Sheriff's Dive Team, and five area fire departments also have helped in the search, sheriff's officials said.

The missing man is from Grand Rapids and was kayaking with his girlfirend on the 140-acre, man-made lake between Ionia and Saranac, when they became uncomfortable in their life jackets and decided to take them off, officials said.

The man flipped his kayak and did not resurface, they said. He was last seen a few minutes before 7 p.m. His life jacket was recovered.

Rescue crews searched until nightfall on Sunday and Monday.

The missing man's name was being withheld while the search was continuing.

The Berlin-Orange, Lake Odessa, Saranac and Lyons-Muir fire departments and the Ionia Department of Public Safety also responded to the scene.

Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com . Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Search continues for missing Grand Rapids kayaker in Ionia State Recreation Area