Overview
- Search and recovery crews located and recovered the bodies of two missing kayakers Monday, ending a multi-day effort near Washington Island.
- Authorities identified the victims as 20-year-old David Thalman of Dundee, Illinois, and 20-year-old Franceska Warick of South Elgin, Illinois.
- Local police and fire units led the shift from search to recovery on Sunday and credited support from the Wisconsin DNR, U.S. Coast Guard, Door County Emergency Management and volunteer teams.
- Officials said the pair had gone out without life jackets and indicated drowning may have been a primary cause, though the Door County Sheriff’s Office said the cause of death is not yet final.
- Washington Island sits where Green Bay meets Lake Michigan in a stretch known as Death’s Door, a local hazard that can complicate rescue work and that families and officials are now confronting as the investigation continues.