NORTH MUSKEGON, Mich. — A West Michigan man and his friends spent Tuesday morning fishing his boat out of Bear Lake in North Muskegon after it sank and flipped upside down.
"It's just a total waste," Rob Dykema says.
When he got the call from the Muskegon County Sheriff's Office about what happened, he thought there was a problem with the lift the boat was in.
"He told me that there was some things that were messed with here on the shoreline and that they were feeling that it was probably theft," Dykema says.
He heard from neighbors that their kayaks and jet skis were messed with, too.
"With the help of the neighbors and the tractor, we were able to get it out of the water," Dykema says.
He's waiting to hear back officially from his insurance, but he thinks the boat is a total loss.
"It was a beautiful boat. And it was my pride and joy," Dykema says. "It's gonna be hard to replace it. We've had lots and lots of memories out here on the water. That's the hardest part."
With the unofficial start of summer just days away, he's disappointed that he and his family won't have their boat.
"The weather's great. I hope that we can help find who did this and bring them to justice, I guess," Dykema says.
For now, he's just glad that everyone's okay.
"It's just dumb. I mean, boats are replaceable. Nobody was hurt. But what's the point?" Dykema says.
He's filed a complaint with the Muskegon County Sheriff's Office, who is investigating the case along with similar ones in the area along with the North Muskegon Police Department.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.