Former GVSU Championship Quarterback Missing After Fishing Trip
WEBBER TWP. (WWJ/AP) - Authorities are searching for a former college quarterback who led Grand Valley State University to three national titles.
Police say they launched a search for 30-year-old Cullen Finnerty after he failed to return Sunday night from fishing near his family's northern Michigan cabin. Reports say the cabin is near Bray Creek State Forest Campground in Baldwin, about 65 miles north of Grand Rapids.
According to reports, family members dropped Finnerty off with a boat at the Baldwin River on Sunday. After returning from fishing, Finnerty allegedly docked the boat and called his wife. Finnerty was apparently having what family members described as "an episode," saying he was scared and wandering through the woods. Relatives say Finnerty suffered several concussions in his football career and are concerned that may have triggered this episode.
The Lake County Sheriff's Department said crews searched all day Monday and found the small pontoon boat Finnerty was using to fish, but there was no sign of Finnerty.
A group of relatives and former teammates who live in the area left from Brighton, Finnerty's hometown, early Tuesday morning to help in search efforts.
Finnerty played for Grand Valley State teams that won Division II titles in 2003, 2005 and 2006. He also briefly played for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens when the team signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He was released and later signed with the Denver Broncos where he was waived in 2008.
Finnerty is described as 6-foot 3-inches tall and 235 lbs with light brown hair.
Anyone with information on Finnerty's whereabouts is asked to contact the Lake County Sheriff's Department at 231-745-2717.
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