Missing kayaker pulled from St. Joseph River in Niles has died

NILES, Mich. -- The man who was pulled from the St. Joseph River in Niles around noon on Wednesday has died, according to law enforcement.

Around 8:30 a.m., four men launched a kayak near the dam at a legal launch site, according to Niles Fire Chief Larry Lamb.

“We had four adult males enter that actually entered the water just up there on the other side of the dam. Two actually had a lot of kayaking experience and the other two didn’t have any," Lamb said.

At some point all four men entered the water.

One paddled to safety and called for help.

A second male was out of the water by the time first responders arrived.

The third was rescued from the water by first responders.

All three were in stable condition.

Emergency crews spent the morning searching for the fourth kayaker.

“The last known location for the fourth victim was up here near the dam area. So we investigated, there’s a cable system up there and a large log and we were able to shake the log free and recover the fourth victim,” Lamb said.

The fourth man was found and transported to the hospital. He was pronounced deceased a short time after being taken to the hospital, according to law enforcement.

“We would like to make sure that people know that they shouldn’t be going into the river unless they really know what they’re doing, especially above a dam,” Lamb said.