Officials have requested an autopsy for a young girl who was recovered from Lake Huron in Iosco County after drowning last weekend.
According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), a group of girls were swimming at Tawas Point State Park when two of them -- a 7-year-old and an 8-year-old from Saginaw -- began “struggling in distress.” At about 5 p.m., the group of girls called out to nearby family members for help, officials said.
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About 30 family members were reportedly gathered at the park for a get-together that day. Officials say many people were nearby when the incident occurred, with some under a pavilion and some swimming at the beach.
Officials say people on shore went into the water to assist the struggling girls. One woman was able to grab the 7-year-old girl and get her safely to shore with the help of another woman, DNR officials say. The 8-year-old girl, however, “did not resurface.”
A dive team located the 8-year-old girl about 90 minutes later at the bottom of the lake about 50 yards from shore, where the depth was about 20 feet. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m., officials said.
Michigan DNR officials say the Iosco County medical examiner requested an autopsy of the girl. The autopsy is reportedly scheduled to take place in the city of Standish on Tuesday.
Officials are not sharing the identities of the Saginaw girls because they are juveniles.
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