SILVER BAY, Minn. 鈥� Two 18-year-old males died Sunday, June 25, after jumping off cliffs into Lake Superior.
Austin Henning, of South St. Paul, and Maximillion Williams, of Inver Grove Heights, drowned after jumping into the lake, according to Lake County Sheriff Nathan Stadler. A 911 call reported the two were "struggling to swim" at Black Beach at 1:25 p.m.
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"It was wavy and windy, and the water is cold. I don't know what the temperature was, but it had to be fairly cold," Stadler told the News Tribune. "So I know that played into the fact that once they got into the water, they struggled and were actually being pulled out away from the shore."
At the time of the drownings, wind speeds were up to 23 mph and waves were 3-4 feet, said Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Jamie Rodriguez Ayala of the U.S. Coast Guard, who responded to the scene via boat from Bayfield, Wisconsin. The Coast Guard also sent a helicopter from Traverse City, Michigan.
"At some point, visibility was less than 1 nautical mile," Rodriguez Ayala said.
The first body was located and removed from the water at 6:12 p.m. Sunday, and the second body was recovered at 7:39 p.m.
Lake County Search and Rescue and St. Louis Rescue Squad responded to Black Beach.
"Lake Superior is a dangerous lake, and visitors and everybody just need to really appreciate what that lake can do," Stadler said. "It's not like just jumping into an inland lake."
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