Man, 26, Found Dead After Kayak Overturns In Lake Michigan In Northern MI: Sheriff

LEELANAU COUNTY, MI — A 26-year-old man was found dead Wednesday after his kayak overturned along the Lake Michigan shoreline in northern Michigan, according to sheriff's officials.

Officials said 26-year-old James Arthur Bottorff III was kayaking in West Grand Traverse Bay near Peshawbestown Tuesday evening.

Subscribe

Around 5 p.m. that day, officials said a 911 caller reported an overturned kayak in the bay near Sunrise Beach. Witnesses told police they last saw the kayaker about 200 yards offshore.

Crews searched hours for Bottorff until darkness made rescue operations unsafe for first responders, officials said.

They resumed Wednesday morning and found Bottorff's body in the area, officials said.

No other details were released.

Officials said Bottorff was a current resident of Wilmington, North Carolina, but originally from the Leelanau County area.

"The Sheriff's Office extends its condolences to the family of Mr. Bottorff and would also like to thank all of the many agencies that assisted in this incident," the Leelanau County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.