Bodies of 2 students recovered from Lake Michigan

He wrote: ‘Today at around 3:00 this afternoon while myself, Adam, Jeremy, and Kurt were walking down a treacherous pier in Sheboygan, on our way back to safety, a massive wave swept us from behind, forcing three of us, including Kurt, Adam, and myself to be swept into Lake Michigan.

Abeyta said the men in the water quickly became separated. They were rescued by volunteer firemen and returned to shore unharmed. The Sheriff’s Office says the men realized they were going to get wet from waves hitting the pier. The Sheboygan County dive team suspended operations Sunday evening because of the rough water.

With gale warnings ongoing for most of Lake Michigan until Monday night, Coast Guard search and rescue experts encourage those heading to or on the lake to exercise caution, Sunday. Boat and helicopter searches continued and several private vessels assisted. The person who was rescued was taken to the hospital.

The incident happened around 4pm after a large wave swept three adult males off the pier and into the harbor side of the pier.

Fire officials said the search resumed Monday morning.

Two vigils were held for the victims Monday. “The brief moment that I was … we tried to tell each other to just stay afloat”, Abeyta said.

At 5:11 p.m., the first diver was sent in the water, but due to the hazardous conditions, all dive operations were cancelled at 5:24 p.m.

When the Coast Guard arrived, they observed Abeyta-Dedecker in the water.

“It was very hard for us to maintain our heads above water and for us to control where we were in the water”, Abeyta told WISN.com.

Authorities say the men, who attend St. Norbert College in DePere, were on the dock speaking with some fishermen when they were swept into the water.