OTTAWA COUNTY, MI – A man was killed Sunday, Sept. 14, when his personal watercraft crashed into a navigational buoy on the Grand River, sheriff’s deputies said.

The victim was a 28-year-old Grand Rapids man whose name has not been released.

Ottawa County sheriff’s deputies responded around 8:50 p.m. to a report of a crash in the 14000 block of Ammeraal Avenue and a man missing in the river.

Police determined that the man was operating the personal watercraft with an 18-year-old woman as a passenger when he struck the buoy.

Both were thrown into the water. The 18-year-old was able to climb back onto the personal watercraft before several people on a nearby boat helped her.

The man did not surface.

The boaters immediately began searching for the victim before the Sheriff’s Department,

See Full Page