GRAND HAVEN (WWJ) - The body of a West Michigan fisherman who went missing on Lake Michigan at the beginning of the week was found on Friday evening, officials confirmed.
The Ottawa County Sheriff's Department said deputies and troopers with the Michigan State Police recovered the body of David Split, a 61-year-old resident of Fruitport, in about 35 feet of water in the evening hours of Sept. 15.
Split was reported missing by family members after he failed to return from a fishing trip on Lake Michigan Tuesday (Sept. 12) night.
USCG crews from Grand Haven, Traverse City and even as far away as North Carolina, searched roughly 1,800 square nautical miles overnight into Wednesday with a Royal Canadian Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft joining efforts in the morning.
According to officials, the search area in Lake Michigan is roughly the size of the State of Delaware.
Crews discovered Split's boat, a a 29-foot Blue Sea Sundancer, named A & A, on Wednesday afternoon about 32 nautical miles west of Grand Haven -- but the the 61-year-old was not onboard.
"Coast Guard air and surface assets and other agencies, including a U.S. Air Force MQ9 drone, continued intensive search on Lake Michigan overnight for missing fisherman," officials said
The USCG said search efforts continued by water and by air on Thursday morning, but by Friday, they announced they had suspended its search for Split unless they had any new leads.
It is unclear if crews found Split's body before or after calling off the search.
"Our condolences go out to the Split family," the Fruitport Police Department said in an update on social media. "The incident is still under investigation."
Anyone who may have any information about the case has been asked to call 414-747-7182.