FeedsWestland boy drowns in Novi lake
A 13-year-old Westland boy drowned Sunday afternoon after inadvertently breaking through the thin ice covering a Novi lake.
“He was visiting relatives for Easter,” said Det. Sgt. Matt Conquest of the Novi Police Department. “He took his relative’s dog for a walk, walked out on the ice, and fell through.”
Both the boy and the dog wound up in the waters of the Village Oakes Lake, which is located southeast of Ten Mile Road and Meadowbrook Road.
The family was alerted to the situation around 1 p.m. after the dog was able to pull itself out of the water and returned alone to its nearby home.
“His relatives called us when the dog came home wet,” Conquest said, adding that when they looked out at the lake the family could see the hole in the ice.
Novi police and fire personnel, along with members of the Oakland County Dive Team, were on the scene shortly thereafter. Despite their efforts, however, the child could not be saved. According to Conquest, the child’s body was recovered about 90 minutes after he fell into the lake. The Novi Police Department is not releasing the name of the victim.
Due to the nature of the boy’s death, the case was turned over to the Oakland County Medical Examiner for further examination.
Although Novi Police have not received the official report on the medical examiner’s findings, Conquest said that the department did receive a verbal response on Monday indicating that death was due to accidental drowning.
The child’s death is the second reported drowning in the Village Oaks Lake in less than a year. On May 13 of last year, 23-year-old Isaac L. Reid of Inkster was in the water with his brother swimming across the lake when witnesses heard cries for help and contacted the police. Reid, who had been in the area visiting relatives, was later pronounced dead at Botsford Hospital.
