BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) - A body found in the Kalamazoo River has been identified as that of a southern Michigan man swept away last week while trying to retrieve lip balm his girlfriend had dropped into the river, police said.
Eric Punzo’s body was found Sunday by a state Department of Natural Resources conservation officer who was patrolling in a boat. A medical examiner later identified the body as Punzo’s, said Lt. Doug Bagwell of the Battle Creek Police Department.
The 19-year-old Olivet man had been missing since May 4 after Punzo’s friends told officers he fell into the river and was swept away. His girlfriend told police she dropped her lip balm into the river as they were walking with another young man along a concrete channel near the Kalamazoo River’s convergence with the Battle Creek River.
Police said that when Punzo attempted to retrieve the lip balm he slipped into the water and was swept away, the Battle Creek Enquirer reported.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.