Kayak Death in Lake Michigan

July 18, 2013

For the second time this month, someone has died after falling into Lake Michigan from a small watercraft off the shores of Leelanau County.

Robert J. Womac, 70, of Belleville, was kayaking with a friend – each in separate kayaks – when the wind kicked up and his boat capsized. Womac was not wearing a lifejacket, though his friend – Dale M. Hathaway, 81 of Northville – was wearing one and made it to shore alive.

It’s not certain that he died of drowning, and an autopsy will determine the exact cause of death, says the Leelanau County Sheriff’s Department.

On July 2, 8-year-old Stephen W. Osler of Ann Arbor died after he and his father’s rented canoe turned over as they were coming back from S. Manitou Island.

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