Oh, deer: Police, Coast Guard find deer after report of body in Lake Michigan

Thu, Apr 24, 2008    to del.icio.us

FERRYSBURG — The U.S. Coast Guard ended a search for a body in Lake Michigan late Wednesday morning after realizing the body was an animal.

Police and firefighters were dispatched to the private beach, about a quarter mile north of North Beach Park, around 11:15 a.m. A couple walking along the shoreline reported seeing what looked like a dead body just below the water's surface about 15 feet from shore, police said.

According to police, the witness, a border patrol officer, was reliable, so they took the call very seriously. However, investigators had trouble locating the body, and called the Coast Guard to search the area.

After nearly 20 minutes of searching, police discovered a decomposed deer that had washed to shore. Police said the deer was fully decomposed and white, so it looked like a human body.