On Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard resumed its search for a kayaker who went missing on Lake Erie on Sunday around 3:45 p.m.
As they scanned the lake for any sign of him, Barry Sell tells 7 Action News what led him to make the 911 call that prompted the search.
Sell said he and some friends were using binoculars to check out a freighter on the lake when they noticed a kayaker several hundred yards from shore.
“There was only about 3 feet of it out of the water. I’m thinking, well, that’s an odd-looking kayak. Well, didn’t pay any attention to it and looked back a little while later and he was separated from his kayak by at least a hundred to 200 feet," Sell recalled.
Witnesses tell 7 Action News the kayak had a motor attached to it. Sell said he saw the man swimming, and he figured he was in distress. So, he called 9-1-1 and another gentleman went out on a paddleboard to try to reach the victim.
“The gentleman who tried to rescue him said the individual was trying to swim back to his kayak and he was calling for help, but he went underwater and that’s the last anybody saw of him," he recalled.
“I guess he didn’t have a life jacket on. They recovered a life jacket and a paddle," Sell explained.
He said someone went out on a boat and brought the kayak back to shore.
“Oh, it’s tragic when you see somebody lose their, ya know, go underwater and drown. It’s horrible," Sell said.
Witnesses learned the victim had launched from Sterling State Park down the road.
According to the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, the sheriff's dive team conducted an extensive search until 11 p.m. on Sunday night. The Frenchtown Fire Department had also responded.
The Coast Guard resumed search efforts today.
“Ya know, you had hoped that maybe we could make it out in time to get this guy out of the water but," Sell said.
He said, “I think he just ran out of energy and just gave up the fight, unfortunately.”
The sheriff’s department is asking anyone with information about this incident to call the Monroe County Central Dispatch at 734-243-7070.
