The body of a 17-year-old Benton Harbor boy was recovered from Lake Michigan.
Saint Joseph City Department of Public Safety officers and the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department deputies were called to the South Pier at Silver Beach on the report of a possible drowning around 7:20 p.m. on Saturday, June 11.
On arrival, officers learned that the victim, Travonne Shannon, had been jumping off the pier into Lake Michigan with a relative and failed to surface after one of the jumps, according to the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department.
Emergency crews from the Saint Joseph City Department of Public Safety, the United States Coast Guard, Medic 1 Ambulance, the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office Marine Division, and the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team then responded to the scene, at which time a search of the water got underway, the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department reported.
About two hours later, divers from the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team located Shannon’s body in approximately 14 feet of water, the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department reported.
Shannon was transported to Lakeland Hospital in Saint Joseph where he was pronounced deceased.
Shannon was a Junior at Benton Harbor High School.
The Berrien County Sheriff’s Office and the Saint Joseph Department of Public Safety issued a reminder that jumping off the pier is extremely dangerous and should never be done.