NEW BUFFALO, Mich. – The Coast Guard, Berrien County and New Buffalo emergency response crews spent Saturday afternoon searching for a young Illinois man who went missing in Lake Michigan. Around 3 p.m. EST the man, identified by the Coast Guard as Mitchell Fajman, and two of his friends were kayaking off the coast of New Buffalo inside the breakwall when high waves caused their boats to capsize.
One of the men managed to make it to the shore on his own and another was rescued from the water. Their current medical conditions are unknown.
Despite the dangerous wind and wave conditions, around 3:30 a Coast Guard crew from Michigan City arrived in a boat to try to rescue Fajman.
“As rescue crews continued to attempt to throw lines and liferings to Fajman, he was thrown from his kayak in the heavy waves,” according to a news release from the Coast Guard. “He was last seen at 5:09 p.m. EST, when he reportedly slipped out of his lifejacket and was observed going under the water.”
