The Kayaker...

I am one of those people that gets slightly obsessed with headlines in the newspaper (People Magazing/E! News).  When Natasha Richardson died after her skiing accident, it took forever for me to get over her death.  I remember thinking "is there ever a day that I won't think about Natasha and feel so sad about her death".  Here was this stranger, I had no connection to beside watching the Parent Trap, that I mourned for months.  I get a tear in my eye just thinking about her mom, Vanessa Redgrave, singing Edelweiss to her before they pulled the plug.  How sad, right!!

natasha richardson

So....it was no surprise I became obsessed with the missing kayaker.  He disappeared on Friday, August 6th.  Here are the facts I know: 1. He left his home around 10:30 am to go kayaking. 2. He was a good kayaker and sometimes would be out for hours. 3.  He was a lawyer in Akron, Oh(I know his name, but don't want to disclose it on my blog). 4.  I know that he's married and has at least one son, maybe two. 5. The police found his kayak, a shoe, an oar, and his lifejacket.  6. They have NOT found the kayaker. Here are the rumors: 1. He was in debt  2. He has a girlfriend.

not a picture of the actual kayaker, something i got off of the internet!

For days after the kayaker went missing the Coast Guard was out searching for him.  They had helicopters and lights out the night of his disappearance and they dragged the lake for weeks after.  As of today, they haven't found him and I haven't stopped thinking about him or googling his name for any new information since that fateful date.  His family put his obituary in the Akron newspaper a few weeks after he went missing and they had a memorial service for him(I debated going...thinking I needed some closure to this whole story!).  So, here are the questions I have....Is anyone looking in the Caribbean for him???  What if he IS in debt and wanted to start over with his girlfriend...another good question is, has anyone seen his girlfriend?? I just find it hard to believe that a month later they haven't found him in the bay.  I get that he would sink, but other people who have drowned in the lake have been found within days (now that I'm a towny I get insider info).  The waves have been huge the past few days and I just don't see how he couldn't wash to shore??  I haven't been able to swim in the lake since he went missing (except one day when i jumped in, but the water was very clear and I could tell there was no bodies floating around and it was REALLY HOT).  My biggest fear is to find a dead body in open waters and I feel that since I had an ominous feeling the afternoon he went missing that it might be in my destiny to find his body...or maybe I'll recognize him on vacation on some tropical island??

the night the kayaker went missing, before i knew he was missing i took a picture of the lake during a wedding reception!

Ok, so here's the kicker...my friend's brother, Jerms, found a possible clue to the missing man.  He likes to dive around the BV bock and on Saturday morning during his dive he found a door knocker in the shape of an anchor with a male 14 K gold wedding band tied to it.

notes for what was found!

here is what jerms found...you decide what happened to the kayaker!

So, I'm thinking....could the kayaker have sunk his wedding band, ditched his kayak, life jacket, shoe and paddle and swam over to the harbor springs airport to catch a plane with his girlfriend to a tropical island??

this is not the kayaker, just a picture form the internet

And if so, could he let me know, so I can swim in the bay again???!!  If I'm wrong and he is somewhere out there in the lake, I do hope his body is found and returned to his family because I'm sure they are having trouble moving on too.  Have no fear...I will keep you up to date with any kayaker news I have...until then it will remain a mystery!!
xoxo