ST. JOSEPH, Mich. (AP) — Police in southwestern Michigan say they are following up on a tip in the 1991 death of a Black teenager who drowned in the St. Joseph River.
The death of Eric McGinnis raised racial tensions between Benton Harbor, which is mostly Black, and St. Joseph, which is mostly white.
It also was the subject of a 1998 book.
Steve Neubecker, director of the St. Joseph Public Safety Department, says the case was reopened based on information received from Brian Conybeare.
He's a reporter at ABC57 in South Bend, Indiana.
Conybeare says a man told him that he saw white teenagers chase Eric toward a pier along Silver Beach.
Neubecker says detectives from area police agencies are working together.
