GARY, Ind. — Emergency crews continued to search the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan Monday for a boater missing since Sunday.
Pawl Knych, 45, of Itasca, was visiting friends at Lake Street Beach in Gary, Indiana, officials said.
“He determined he was going to go back to Portage marina,” Officer Teri Millefoglie of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said.
Knych’s boat was found less than a mile off Marquette Beach. He was the only one on board. His life vest and cell phone were found still inside the boat.
Witnesses on shore called 911 after seeing the boat continuously circling, unmanned in the water.
“At some point he was possibly ejected from the boat,” Millefoglie said. “We are uncertain on how long it had been out there before it was recognized that there was no one in it.”
Marine units resumed the search around 5 a.m. Monday and used sonar to scan the area. Diver teams from Gary, Porter, Hobart, Merriville and Crown Point aided in the search.
Depending on weather, marine units will continue to search until about 10 p.m. Monday and will start again 5 a.m. Tuesday.
