Two Rescued on Lake St. Clair by Coast Guard

U.S. Coast Guard personnel from Air Station Detroit and Station St. Clair Shores were dispatched to rescue two people Sunday in Lake St. Clair.

The Macomb County Sheriff's Office notified the U.S. Coast Guard just after 9 a.m. Sunday that a canoe carrying two people were adrift in Lake St. Clair, according to a release.

According to officials, the individuals spoke Chinese and little English. They also reported they could see land but could not reach it as they were being pushed offshore due to strong winds. 

Using coordinates from one of the boater's cell phone transmissions, an aircrew from Air Station Detroit and boatcrew from Station St. Clair Shores were deployed to locate the boaters.

The aircrew located the canoe, and after a rescue swimmer was lowered to the vessel, both individuals were discovered to be showing signs of hypothermia, according to the Coast Guard.

The aircrew transported the boaters by the Coast Guard helicopter to McLaren Macomb Hospital in Mount Clemens.

“The cell phone transmissions helped to provide a good starting position for Coast Guard rescue crews to search,” said Lt. Kelly Ridle, 9th Coast Guard District command center watchstander, in a release. “Once on scene, rescue crews were better able to be vectored to the distressed vessel with help from local authorities.”

Names and hometowns of the boaters were not released.