December 11, 2016

December 11th 2016

Woman (40) Drowns

PORT CLINTON — Authorities identified the body of a woman found floating four miles offshore in Lake Erie.

Detroit resident Jennifer Chambers, 40, was discovered by a fisherman on April 1 just north of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station.

“The body looks like it had been in the water for some time,” Ottawa County coroner Dan Cadigan previously told the Register.

Chambers was last seen on Dec. 11, 2016, after her vehicle plunged into the Detroit River, according to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office.

Witnesses reported seeing Chambers in the water after her car sank, but she never resurfaced, according to WXYZ, Detroit’s ABC affiliate.


Michigan authorities conducted a two-day search but were unable to find Chambers’ body, the Detroit News reported.

Almost four months later, the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the fisherman's position, off the shores of Carroll Township, to retrieve her body.

Cadigan said the cause of death wasn’t immediately clear as there were no external signs of trauma.

The Lucas County Corner’s Office performed an autopsy and confirmed Chambers drowned, according to a news release.

The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in the investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard, Michigan police, and the coroner offices in Ottawa and Lucas counties.