(WWJ) A towboat captain is credited for rescuing a man whose boat capsized on the way back from Jobbie Nooner on Lake St. Clair.
Lance Pannebecker, who works for Tow Boat US, first shared his story with WWJ's Charlie Langton.
"I was bringing a tow into Metro Beach and had a call come through from the Coast Guard, and I realized I'm right there on scene where there's possible people in the water," Pannebecker said.
"As soon as that came through I started hearing somebody yelling for help. And so I got my deck lights on and my flashlight on and I started looking for them."
The person Pannebecker heard was a 22-year-old man who, along with a friend, was in a 14-foot fishing boat when strong storms blew during the party on the lake in on Friday.
"They got out there and then within 20 to 30 minutes the weather had turned," Pannebecker said. "So, they turned right back around and came right back, but the waves and the wind...that small a boat it was just not gonna put up with those conditions, and the boat ended up sinking."
Pannebecker located the struggling man after about a ten minute search.
"Yean, I just made sure that he kept yelling and ended up seeing him and got him up next to the boat and pulled him in."
The man was exhausted from treading water for hours, but was otherwise OK.
Related
"He looked pretty cold," Pannebecker told Langton. "You know, he told me he'd been in the water for about six, seven hours. So I got his wet clothes off him and got my hoodie on him."
Tragically, the rescued man's friend — 19-year-old Ezekiel El Amin — disappeared under the water.
"...He said they had seen each other last probably as they sun was going down, and they were doing their best to stay next to each other," Pannebecker said. "But he said with the waves and the wind it was very tough."
Authorities said El Amin's body was found Saturday morning about two-and-a-half miles south of Lake St Clair Metropark.