Body Of Teen Who Jumped Off Boat Recovered In Belleville Lake
BELLEVILLE (WWJ) - The body of a 17-year-old boy who disappeared while boating on Belleville Lake has been recovered.
Shanari Rush-London was with family members Wednesday night when he jumped off the boat and failed to resurface.
Police searched the lake late into the night using a sonar, but found no signs of Rush-London. The search was eventually called off because it was too dark.
Search efforts Thursday as focusing on the east end of the lake, near Denton Road. The teen's body was found at around 10 a.m.
Jan London, his grandmother — who stood by as dive teams searched — said the boy loved being in the water and he usually wore a life-preserver, but not this time.
"They were fishing and having a family day, you know, with the kids," London told WWJ's Mike Campbell. "He jumped in — told his dad he could swim — and he jumped in before they could get him to put the life jacket on...and they just couldn't get him. I guess the just current pulled him down really fast."
Rush-London's cousin, who was wearing a life-preserver, jumped in after the teen.
"His cousin did try to save him but he said every time he went down to get him, by him having the life-jacket on, it kept popping him back up," London said. "By the time he took it off to go down, he just couldn't find him."
London said her grandson had recently graduated from Detroit's Osborn High School and was looking forward to his future.
"It's just your worst nightmare," she said.
The incident is the second apparent drowning at Belleville Lake in less than a week. Last Saturday, 50-year-old Orlando Ponder died after falling into the lake while working on his boat. His body was found about an hour later.
Belleville Lake is a 2-square-mile man-made lake located just south of I-94. The lake runs from just west of Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, to Ford Lake at Rawsonville Road.
