A Watervliet man is dead after a kayaking accident in Paw Paw Lake on Wednesday.
The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department says deputies were called to the lake in Watervliet around 5:40 p.m. on a report of a man who’d been pulled out of the water unresponsive. Upon arrival, deputies performed CPR on the man until an ambulance arrived, but he was dead at the scene.
Deputies learned 23-year-old Hunter Baldwin had been seen by witnesses fishing from the kayak about 70 to 80 yards off shore. At one point, witnesses noticed the kayak had rolled over and Baldwin was struggling. The witnesses managed to reach him and pull him to a dock, but it was too late.
Baldwin was found wearing a lifejacket. An autopsy will be conducted at Western Michigan University to determine a cause of death.
Police say it doesn’t appear there is anything suspicious about the drowning.
