Midnight Lake St. Clair Swimmer Presumed Drowned

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a Winona, MN, man who took a midnight swim in Lake St. Clair but did not resurface. Craig Michael Moir was among four people who jumped into the lake from their boat near Metro Beach around 12 a.m. Friday, the Coast Guard Lt. Ben Chamberlain told WWJ Radio.

The three others resurfaced and another individual who remained on the watercraft called the Coast Guard.
The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office dive team is assisting with the search, and a helicopter and patrol boat were both on the scene.

Chamberlain said the man is presumed drowned, but the recovery effort was continuing Friday morning. There was some confusion about the exact location where the group jumped in the lake for the swim.

“We have not been able to locate the individual at this time, but we continue to search,” he told the radio station. “We’re still narrowing down where exactly they may have been to give us the best chance of finding him as possible.”

Alcohol was involved, Chamberlain said, and that may account for some of the confusion about exactly where the group was swimming.

The search will continue, he said.
“One thing that we as the Coast Guard take very personally and that keeps us going on these cases is that we treat everyone of these search and rescue cases as if it was one of our own family members out there,” said Chamberlin. “So, we’ll continue to search until we’ve exhausted all options.”

The operator of the boat, a 32-year-old St. Clair Shores man, was arrested on charges of operating while intoxicated and is being held in the Macomb County Jail. He was arrested at a St. Clair Shores marina after ignoring a request by the sheriff’s office that he remain at the scene, according to the report.