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Search Still Underway Around Kalamazoo County Lake for Missing Man

Posted at 2:03 PM, Apr 07, 2014
and last updated 2014-04-07 15:02:41-04
sugimori

56-year-old Takashi Sugimori

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. – Investigators looking for a Kalamazoo man in an area lake are calling their search a recovery effort now.

Over the weekend, dive teams from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office searched Asylum Lake in Kalamazoo for a 56-year-old Takashi Sugimori who went missing this week.  He is described as 5’6, 160 lbs., with black hair and brown eyes.  He was last seen wearing a red sweatshirt.

Asylum lake is a remote body of water accessed only by trails.

Around 5:30 pm Friday, a Michigan State Police helicopter did a flyover and examined the lake from above. On Thursday, foot tracks were located leading out to the lake and onto the ice. Police said it’s believed that the man may have fallen into the lake. Friday they didn’t find his body.

Police said the search for the man began Thursday morning after the man’s wife filed a missing persons report. She said her husband didn’t return home after going to Asylum Lake to cross country ski. It’s an activity she said he often did.

Several departments responded on Thursday and Friday, including members of Kalamazoo Public Safety, the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office, the Western Michigan University Police Department, Kalamazoo County Emergency Management and state police.