A missing person’s search over the weekend ended in tragedy following the recovery of the missing man’s body from Lake Nepessing.
The man, 59- year-old David Holmes of Lapeer, was reported overboard around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 2, with Lapeer County Central Dispatch receiving two calls from people he was boating with on three pontoons. There was some hope that he made it back to shore, as Holmes was reported to be a strong, healthy swimmer and familiar with the lake.
Lapeer County Marine Patrol and Dive Team spent Saturday night using sonar across the over 400 acre lake, with Oakland County Sheriff Department lending their Rescue Dive Team to the effort around 3:00 a.m. on Sunday. Lapeer County Search and Rescue K9 joined the search on Sunday, with the Michigan State Police Aviation Division dispatching a helicopter to do an overhead search of the area and lake. The lake is known to be murky with many weeds that can make searches harder to carry out.
Other agencies that assisted with the search over the last two days include the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office, Hadley Fire Department, Elba Fire Department, and Alpena Search and Rescue, with Wood Chips restaurant and the Lake Inn providing care to searchers.
