Body Pulled From Kalamazoo River

Local emergency crews from Battle Creek, Calhoun County and Emmett Township worked together to recover a body from the Kalamazoo River early this morning.

Authorities were alerted, at 1:05 AM Sunday morning, by a fisherman in a boat who saw the body near the south riverbank at Stringham Road and Jackson Street. The location is about 1-mile downstream from where officials pulled a submerged car from the river, March 12th, that a missing 31 year-old man was believed driving.

Authorities had searched the river for several days after the car was first reported plunging into the icy waters on March 4th. Deep water and strong currents made it a difficult task, but the Hyundai Sonata was finally located where the Battle Creek River converges with the Kalamazoo River at Dickman Road and Capital Avenue. The body of Cortez Lewis, of Detroit, was not found in the vehicle.

Authorities are not yet sure if the body is that of Cortez Lewis and an autopsy will be performed.