CLEVELAND — The U.S. Coast Guard is conducting a search for a 9-year-old girl who was reported missing in Lake Michigan between Ootsburg and Cedar Grove, Wis., at approximately 5 p.m., CST, on Wednesday.
She was reportedly not wearing a personal flotation device.
The Coast Guard received notification from the Sheboygan Police Department that the girl had drifted offshore in a kayak. She was reportedly wearing a blue bathing suit and orange t-shirt.
Coast Guard crews aboard a 25-foot response boat from Station Sheboygan and an HH-65 Dolphin Rescue Helicopter from Air Facility Muskegon are searching for the missing girl.
Sheboygan Police Department marine patrol vessels are also involved in the search.
A life jacket, a.k.a. Personal Flotation Device (PFD), is one of a paddler’s primary pieces of safety gear. It’s recommended paddlers use PFDs that are inherently buoyant rather than inflatable. This makes reentering a paddlecraft, especially a sit-inside kayak, easier in the event of a roll-over. PFDs should be brightly colored to increase visibility to boaters in power and sail craft.
