Search team looking for missing diver had to be rescued themselves

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Members of one of the search teams that were looking for a missing diver in Lake Michigan earlier this week had to be rescued, when their boat started sinking.

Last Tuesday rescue teams began looking for 72-year-old Patrick Kelly of Winthrop Harbor, who was missing after diving to a shipwreck about 6 miles from Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. Kelly died and his body was recovered on Wednesday.

During Tuesday's search, a boat from the Kenosha County Fire/Rescue Association started taking on water.

"[The boat] took on so much water, it sank to the bottom of the lake at about 63 to 65 feet of water," said Colin Hennessey, the vice president and treasurer of the association and the fire chief in Paris, Wisconsin.

All eight people on the boat and some of its equipment were rescued before the boat sank.

Hennessey said he's confident the boat can be recovered from the bottom of the lake, but he says it might have to be replaced.

"Knowing what boats are going for, easily $60,000 or more was what it would be to replace that boat," Hennessey said.

That's more than the association can afford, he said.

If you'd like to help the association, which is a 501(c)(3) charity, either repair or replace the boat, tax-deductible donations can be sent to:

The Kenosha County Fire/Rescue Association
19801 83rd Street
Bristol, WI 53104

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