ALLENDALE, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – A family from Battle Creek is safe after being stranded on the Grand River this weekend.
Deputies from the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department and the Georgetown Township Fire Department were called to the scene on Sunday just after midnight for a lost boater on the Grand River between 68th Avenue in Allendale Township and 28th Avenue in Georgetown Township. Sgt. Brian Buter says deputies met with 43-year-old Anthony Hough who advised he was boating on the Grand River with his wife and 7-month-old child when they ran out of gas around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, September 30.
Hough told deputies he pulled ashore and walked to a nearby residence where they assisted him in getting some gas for the boat. When Hough returned to the location where he left his boat, he was unable to locate his family. Hough then walked along the Grand River for several miles before he went to residence and called 911.
The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, Georgetown Township Fire Department and Aeromed searched the Grand River from 68th Avenue to 28th Avenue using boats and helicopters. 34-year-old Matthia Alvez-Beronja and her 7-month-old child were located on the boat on an island near 68th Avenue.
The boat had been drifting in the river since Hough had left despite having it’s anchor down. The family was checked at the scene by firefighters and paramedics and refused medical treatment.
