A 61-year-old Waterford Township man died in a likely drowning after his body was found in Maceday Lake Monday night, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.
The victim, Joselito Estonilo Garcia, was found unresponsive under a dock late Monday by Waterford Township police officers, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Garcia was pronounced dead early on Tuesday.
Investigators said Garcia likely drowned, which would make him the 13th drowning victim in an Oakland County lake this year, according to the news release. An autopsy is scheduled to take place later Tuesday.
"This has been an extremely tragic year for drownings in Oakland County," Sheriff MichaelBouchard said in a statement. "Sadly, many threads are common with drownings and often include alcohol consumption. That is under investigation in this case as well. We urge people to be safe in and around water."
A 911 caller reported someone yelling for help and thrashing around in the water near the 3700 block of Austinwood Ct. around 9:42 p.m. Monday, and the sheriff's search and rescue team responded. The township police received a separate emergency call and were told that the yelling stopped shortly after it began, the news release said.
First responders found Garcia's body and performed life-saving measures and CPR, while divers, the Sheriff's Office drone unit, and boats equipped with SONAR searched the lake for another person in the water. No one else was found and the Oakland County Sheriff's search and rescue team is investigating the incident, the news release said. The Sheriff's Office said it believes alcohol may have been a factor in Garcia's death, although it is unclear how or where he entered the lake.
The Southeast Michigan Dive Group, the Livingston County Dive Team, and the Huron Clinton Metro Parks Search and Rescue Team assisted in the search and rescue efforts, the news release said.
Bouchard previously called the high number of drownings in Oakland County inland lakes this year "unusual," but said officials hadn't pinpointed why there had been so many over the summer since few involved alcohol or other substance.