Thousands turn out each year to float down the river in any kind of non-propelled pool toy or air mattress. It appears alcohol is optional but the preferred beverage.
The weather was coolish in the low to mid 70's and the water was cooler than usual too.
That didn't stop the throngs of eager young people from taking to the water at 1 pm today.
Our condo friends Harold and Esther aboard their 52 foot Sea Ray were turned back by the coastguard as the entire river was closed from the bridge to Stag Island from 1 pm until 8 pm.
Sadly, the situation went bad at around 4 pm when a 19 year old Brady Morton from Fenton MI near Flint, slipped off his float for a swim and hasn't been seen since.
The Voice
Serving northern Macomb & St. Clair counties
UPDATE :Authorities still looking for missing man after Port Huron Float Down
Published: Monday, August 18, 2014
By Jeri Packer
Staff Writer
Authorities are searching for Brady Morton, 19, of Fenton, who went missing during the 2014 Port Huron Float Down Sunday. Crews have searched about 157 square miles of the river and nearby waterways.
The St. Clair County Sheriff's Office Dive Team is using sonar to search an area of the river from roughly North Boulevard in Port Huron to Chrysler Beach in Marysville. The Sheriff's Office Marine Division, U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies are also participating in the search, which began yesterday, after the call came in that Morton was missing before 5 p.m. on Aug. 18.
It was reported that Morton was last seen wearing gray shorts and red sunglasses with a group of about 40 friends. The Coast Guard Sector Detroit reported the man was seen getting off his raft, going under the water and not resurfacing in the vicinity of Malcolm Marine. Morton's float was recovered.
During the float down, people ride the current of the St. Clair River in rafts, tubes and other inflatables, starting at Lighthouse Beach in Port Huron to Marysville. Port Huron Police assisted in searching for Morton by checking around his vehicle and searching establishments along the route of the float down. Crews from Coast Guard Station Port Huron, aboard a 25-foot response boat and a 45-foot response boat, were already underway to monitor the event and responded along with crews from several other agencies.
Sector Detroit issued an urgent marine information broadcast, advising mariners of the situation, asking them to keep a sharp lookout, to report all sightings to the nearest Coast Guard unit and to assist if possible. An aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit aboard a Dolphin helicopter, the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office Marine Division Dive Team and crews from Air Station Detroit and Station St. Clair Shores are searching or on standby to relieve the crews currently searching, should they be needed.
Port Huron Police Corp. Jason Barna said the typical crowd of 2,500 to 3,000 participated in this year's event. They actually had two floaters missing at one point.
"There were two people missing, but one came in and we are still looking for one of them," Barna said. "He was with another group but people generally go from one raft and climb up on another."
The other missing person was a Canadian who got out of the water and found a place to sleep for a while. He reported to police that he was safe after he came home and discovered authorities were searching for him. Barna said the huge group of floaters usually starts out just having fun, but by the end of the float-down at Marysville Chrysler Beach, there are many people "highly intoxicated, getting into fights." There were no arrests made, but some citations were given out, he said. Other than the missing persons, there were no other incidents to report.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the 9th District Command Center at 216-902-6117 or their local 911 dispatch.
UPDATE 2
Body Of ‘Float Down’ Participant Found
By Kirk Dickinson on August 20, 2014@KDickinsonNews
The body of a missing man who was last seen during Sunday’s St. Clair River Float Down has been recovered.
The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office says the the body of 19-year-old Brady Morton of Fenton was discovered by the Sheriff’s Office Dive Team at about 2:30pm on Wednesday. Police say Morton was located at the bottom of the river by using an underwater camera attached to a water sled device, which was towed behind a boat.
Morton was reported missing shortly before 5pm on Sunday afternoon by friends who were participating in the Float Down event.
The Sheriff’s Office Marine Division and the U.S. Coast Guard conducted daily searches until the body was recovered.
The body has since been turned over to the St. Clair County Medical Examiner’s Office and an autopsy is scheduled for Friday.
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