KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Several agencies came together Saturday for a dive and recovery operation, which included lowering the Kalamazoo River.
READ MORE: Kalamazoo River to be lowered Saturday for dive and recovery operation
“Regardless of the circumstances, you know, our thoughts go out to the family of this man,” Kalamazoo County Emergency Management Director Mike Corfman said. “A last-ditch effort before the weather turns really bad and the river starts to get, you know, unworkable— to try to find this person…just to give the family some closure.”
According to the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, an officer tried to pull over a motorcyclist on New Year’s Day for a license plate violation.
Investigators say the motorcyclist took off and jumped into the Kalamazoo River, but never resurfaced.
“It’s better for first responders and professionals to locate this person, rather than someone that recreates on the river, to find this person…That’s just kind of a traumatic situation, and we’re going to try as hard as we can [Saturday] to locate this person,” Corfman said.
KDPS released body cam video of the incident, which you can watch below:
REFERENCE: Suspect missing after jumping into Kzoo River to elude arrest
Kalamazoo Co. Emergency Management says Morrow Dam owner Eagle Creek Renewable Energy was able to slow down the flow of the river Saturday to make the search safer.
“Our main concern is the current…as they let less water out, we don’t have as much current we got to fight,” Corfman explained to FOX 17. “It does drop the level, maybe a foot or so. We can’t shut it off completely because the water would back up in the pool behind the dam. That would be bad.”
He said the turbines continued to run and generate electricity. “We’re trying to get it down to the lowest levels that we can and still keep the dam functioning and safely.”
Great Lakes Rescue provided aerial units, or drones, along with remote-controlled submersible devices to aid in Saturday’s recovery operation.
Additionally, around 20 divers from the Kalamazoo County Water Safety and Recovery Dive Team and St. Joseph County Dive Team assisted.
Crews only had a limited amount of time— about three hours— that they were able to reduce the flow of the river.
So far, they have not found anything.
