PORT HURON, Mich. – Officials have identified two men who drowned Wednesday in the Black River in Port Huron.
The bodies of Robert John Lewandowski, 47, of Port Huron, and Sumith Jacob Alex, 32, of Clinton Township, were recovered Wednesday night by officials searching the Black River.
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The St. Clair County Sheriff's Office received a call after 2:30 p.m. Wednesday that Lewandowski had fallen out of an inflatable dinghy and into the water near the Domtar Paper plant, which is about a quarter-mile south of the I-94 bridge.
Shortly after the first call, a second call alerted police that Alex had jumped into the water to help Lewandowski. Both disappeared underwater.
Port Huron firefighters sent a boat and the U.S. Coast Guard sent a boat and a helicopter to search for the men, but they couldn't find them.
Divers from the St. Clair County Sheriff Marine Division joined the rescue mission, which turned into a recovery effort. Divers were also unable to find the men.
A second dive team boat joined the search with a sonar. They found Lewandowski's body around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday about 150 feet up the river from where the search began. He was 16 feet deep in the water, about 25 feet from shore.
Alex's body was found around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. He was a short distance upriver, about 25 feet from the shore.
The bodies were taken to the McLaren Port Huron Hospital morgue. Autopsies are scheduled for Thursday.