Stormy Lake Michigan Claims 7

The bodies of six swimmers who drowned in storm-tossed waters along a three-mile stretch of Lake Michigan beaches were recovered, and the search for a seventh swimmer resumed Monday.

The swimmers got into trouble during a three-hour period after thunderstorms ripped across the lake Friday and hit western Michigan's Berrien County, kicking up waves and creating what the Coast Guard described as strong rip tides and an undercurrent.

"Weather is a key factor," Coast Guard Petty Officer Melissa Pese said in St. Joseph, about 15 miles north of the stretch of beach where the swimmers disappeared.

Two bodies were recovered Sunday, bringing to six the number of bodies found in the choppy waters. A seventh swimmer who disappeared in the area at the same time was still missing and presumed dead.

Leslie Schmidt said she could feel the water tugging at her Saturday as she waded at the edge of Lake Michigan at Warren Dunes State Park, where two men were killed and one was missing after trying to help a boy struggling in the water. The boy was rescued.

"There's definitely a pull," Schmidt, of Geneva, Ill., told the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune.

No lifeguards are posted at Warren Dunes or other beaches in the area, but flags are posted to indicate degrees of danger.

Red flags flew on Friday and Saturday, indicating swimmers should stay out of the water. The sheriff's department said warnings also were made over a public address system.

Conditions improved at Warren Dunes on Sunday, and yellow flags warned swimmers to use caution, park employees said. But red flags were flying on the beach again Monday.

Vickie Russell, who lives near Warren Dunes, said waves were high on Friday.

"We've never heard of this many drownings at one time," Russell told The Grand Rapids Press. "They must have ignored the red flags and the undertow."

Two of the six people who drowned were trying to save a 12-year-old boy as he floundered off Warren Dunes. Roland Rodriguez, 15, and 22-year-old Ismael Gonzalez died, though the boy eventually was rescued.

Rodriguez's body was found Sunday; Gonzalez's body was found Saturday.

Another would-be rescuer — Marcos Reynoso, 25, of Chicago — went missing in the choppy water. Randall Farmer, 44, of Chicago, was missing offshore at Bethany Beach.

The second body recovered Sunday, found off Warren Dunes State Park, was identified, but a name was not released pending family notification, officials said.

Officials also said Bruce C. Chapman, 57, and his 66-year-old wife, Judith, of Sawyer, drowned near Cherry Beach. Mark Weiss, 59, a Chicago attorney and former Detroit magistrate, drowned several hundred feet offshore from Harbert Beach.