Divers search for missing kayaker on lake near Ionia

BERLIN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Deputies are looking for a kayaker who vanished after a kayak overturned on a lake at the Ionia State Recreation Area Sunday evening.

According to the Ionia County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were sent to Sessions Lake between Saranac and Ionia around 7 p.m. after a witness reported that the boat tipped and the kayaker never came up.

The sheriff’s office said it soon learned the kayaker, a 30-year-old Grand Rapids man whose name was not released, was on the water with his girlfriend. They said they removed their life jackets because they were uncomfortable.

Search crews were on the water Sunday evening, but had to give it up after it got dark because it was too dangerous to keep diving. They found the kayaker’s life jacket, but not him.

Crews were back out Monday morning looking for the man. As of late Monday afternoon, he had not been found.

The Kent County Sheriff’s Department’s dive team was called to assist in the search.

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