NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Police say crews have recovered the body of a man who went missing in the water in the Willoughby Spit area of Norfolk Sunday evening.
Norfolk police said in a tweet officers responded to the 9700 block of 8th View Street around 6:10 p.m. to investigate a possible drowning. Police later identified the man as 53-year-old Michael Jenkins.
U.S. Coast Guard officials said a boater got stuck in the water then jumped from the boat, attempting to swim to shore.
Several people out on kayaks said they saw him go under the water and never resurface.
Police said crews found the man’s body at a boat ramp near 13th View Street. His identity is being withheld while family members are being notified.
This comes hours after the Coast Guard suspended its search.
10 On Your Side’s Laura Caso spoke with a kayaker Monday who said he saw the man drown right in front of him. “If only I’d gotten there five minutes sooner,” the kayaker said.
“I said to myself this isn’t good, so I went and got a kayak and grabbed a couple of life vests,” said Vesterman. “When I got real close to him, I told him I was going to throw him a life vest and he barely hanging on, he was done with the yelling mode, but he wasn’t swimming, he was floundering.”
Vesterman says the life vest landed about two arm lengths away from the man, however the man could not grab the vests.
“Basically it was on him, it was very close and I tried to push my paddle a little bit to him, as well … and he made no effort for it at all, he was saying stuff like help me, hurry, please hurry. By this time, the second life vest was in the water, he was done talking and he just went under.”
Vesterman said he tried to use his paddle to slap the water, in hopes of a response.
“I thought that maybe he was going to come up again, but he never came up again. I saw him drown. I saw him go to the bottom. You always keep thinking, what more can I have done? I don’t know what I could have done. Because it didn’t turn out successfully, you think there had to be more than I could do.”
The Coast Guard says the Cutter Razorbill and a Jayhawk helicopter from Elizabeth City worked overnight to assist with the search. The man’s identity will be released once his family members have been properly notified.
