CLEVELAND — The Coast Guard assisted the Michigan State Police late Saturday night in locating four kayakers who were reported missing on the Manistique River on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
At about 8:30 p.m., a search-and-rescue controller at the Coast Guard’s 9th District headquarters in Cleveland received a request from the Michigan State Police to assist in locating four people, three adults and one child, who were reported overdue on the Manistique River. The four people were in two kayaks.
After consulting with the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, the United States’ inland search-and-rescue coordinator, it was determined that there was no other local aviation assets available to assist and the assistance of a Coast Guard air crew was needed.
An air crew aboard, an MH-65C Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Mich., was at the Schoolcraft County Airport near Manistique, Mich., refueling after conducting a separate search in Lake Superior.
The aircrew quickly located the missing kayakers using night vision goggles and vectored in local law enforcement to rescue the kayakers.
The Coast Guard regularly assists local, state and federal agencies in need of assistance.
