1 dead, 1 hospitalized after car crashes into Grand River

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A man is dead and another was taken to the hospital after a car crashed into the Grand River over the weekend. According to the Eaton County Sheriff's Office, Eaton County Central Dispatch received an iPhone crash notification and an alert from the BMW Response Center about a vehicle crash at around 2:22 a.m. Sunday. The crash was detected near the end of Jolly Rd, with coordinates plotting the vehicle in the middle of the Grand River. Police found a heavily damaged guardrail, and spotted taillights submerged around 200 feet from the shoreline. Michigan State Police found a canoe nearby and paddled out to the sinking car to look for occupants. Simultaneously, deputies found a man struggling to swim to shore and pulled him out of the river. A Delta Township ambulance took him to Sparrow Hospital for treatment. Law enforcement, believing there was a second person still missing, sent out the Tri-County Dive Team to search for them. Deputies deployed a drone with thermal imaging, Lansing and Delta Township fire departments deployed rescue boats, and officers from multiple jurisdictions searched the shorelines of the river. At around 8:30 a.m., the dive team found a 39-year-old man's body a short distance downstream in around 10 feet of water. The sheriff's office believes alcohol was a factor in the crash. While the investigation is ongoing, police will not be releasing further information at this time.