17-year-old male from Detroit jumps into Belleville Lake, drowns

At 10:10 a.m. last Thursday, Aug. 21, the Van Buren Township Public Safety Dive team recovered the body of a 17-year-old male from Belleville Lake.
The teen, from Detroit, had jumped off a boat he was in with his father to go swimming at about 7:44 p.m. the night before and did not resurface, according to a news release by VBT Fire Chief Dan Besson.
The VBT Public Safety Department received multiple 911 calls on the teen missing in the lake between the Denton Road and Belleville Road bridges.
VBT police units, fire apparatus, marine officers, and the dive team were immediately dispatched. Wayne County Sheriff Marine Division and Huron Valley Ambulance were also requested to respond to the location.
VBT officers, working in conjunction with the two police boats on the scene, were able to gather additional information and attempted to establish a last scene point for the victim in order to begin rescue efforts.
Divers started looking for the missing teen at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday hoping to rescue him and then at 9:48 p.m. gave up for the night citing poor visibility and poor search conditions. Fire Chief Besson said there also were concerns for diver safety. And, as time passed, the rescue operations had become recovery operations.
Crews restarted recovery operations at 6 the next morning and found him at 10:10 a.m. The body was turned over to the Wayne County Medical Examiner for further investigation.
Chief Besson said the victim’s name is being withheld at the family’s request. He reportedly had just graduated from Osborn High School in Detroit. The Van Buren Public Safety Chaplains provided on-scene support for the family.
Anyone having information about this incident is asked to contact the VBT Police Department at (734) 699-8930.