Standish-Three men including one from Ortonville were still missing Thursday after they failed to return from a fishing trip out on Saginaw Bay last weekend.
Missing are Rodney Ferguson, 37, of Ortonville, along with his brother Brian Ferguson, 42, of Prichard W.V. and Mark Adkins Sr. 41, of Imlay City. The trio had been reported missing by a family member.
The men’s life jackets were still on the 17-foot boat when it was spotted drifting about 3 miles east of Standish in Saginaw Bay. The battery on the boat was dead and the boat was out of gas when deputies from the sheriff’s office recovered the watercraft.. Alcohol was believed to not be a factor.
A spokesperson from the Huron County Sheriff’s office said volunteers from the community in addition to three U.S. Coast Guard helicopters, a C-130 fixed wing aircraft and a Huron County Sheriff’s Office airboat were out searching for the men.
The search started from the Bay Port area and covered Wild Fowl Bay from Sand Point south. On Sunday the search expanded from North Island to the mouth of the Sebewaing River. By Monday the search expanded and volunteers were used to search the shoreline of North and Heisterman Islands. From where the boat launched to the recovery area was 25 miles.
The family of the men were in Bad Axe on Wednesday morning, however they did not comment of the incident.