Coast Guard suspends search for overdue fisherman on Lake Michigan

News Release

July 5, 2018 U.S. Coast Guard 9th District Great Lakes Contact: 9th District Public Affairs Office: (216) 902-6020 After Hours: (216) 310-2608 9th District online newsroom

Coast Guard suspends search for overdue fisherman on Lake Michigan

CLEVELAND — The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for an overdue fisherman on Lake Michigan near Kewaunee, Wisconsin, Thursday.

Missing is Mark Wautelet, 38 years old, approximately 6-feet tall, 270 pounds with brownish hair.

Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan received a notification from Kewaunee Dispatch at approximately 11:15 p.m. local, Wednesday, of an overdue 35-foot pleasure craft with one person on board who had departed the Kewaunee Marina at 5 p.m., local, on Wednesday and was expected back by 9:30 p.m., local.

The Coast Guard arrived on scene and located the vessel beached on shore with no persons onboard.

The Coast Guard saturated the search area with many air and boat assets including an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Traverse City, Michigan, an MH-60 from Air Facility Waukegan, Illinois, a 45-foot response boat - medium from Station Sheboygan, Wisconsin, a 29-foot response boat - small from Station Two Rivers, Wisconsin, a 29-foot response boat - small from Station Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, a Coast Guard Auxiliary fixed-wing aircraft from Muskegon, Michigan, and a Royal Canadian Air Force C-130 out of Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton, Ontario.

Coast Guard units searched a total of 425 square miles in 20 hours of searching.

Additional assets included units from the Kewaunee County Sheriff's Department, the City of Algoma Police Department, the City of Kewaunee Police Department, the Eagle III helicopter through County Rescue in Brown County, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and a K9 unit from the Door County Sheriff's Department.

-USCG-