Samantha Hernandez

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Two kayakers pulled from the waters of Lake Michigan at Cave Point County Park on Friday afternoon have died.

At 11:30 a.m. Friday, a call came in for two kayakers in distress about 100 yards from shore, the Door County Sheriff's Department said. The kayaks the men were in capsized. The park is about 14 miles north of Sturgeon Bay in Sevastopol.

The victims, a 21-year-old Clintonville man and a 29-year-old Sturgeon Bay man, were not wearing flotation devices, the sheriff's department said. The water temperature was 43 degrees.

The Jacksonport fire boat found the unresponsive men and were able to get them out of the water before transferring them to the U.S. Coast Guard's boat. The men were taken to Door County Medical Center by ambulance.

The sheriff's department was notified at 2 p.m. that both men had been pronounced dead.

A Sturgeon Bay woman who was on shore at the time of the incident is thought to be the sister of one of the men and the girlfriend of the other, Sheriff Steve Delarwelle said.

The sheriff expects the names of the victims to be released Monday.

Eyewitness account

Nelson and Jennifer Tirado of Milwaukee were visiting Cave Point and saw the two kayakers launch their vessels.

The couple said they were concerned about the choppy waves.

“We saw them paddling out there and we were thinking to ourselves, ‘Man, what are these people doing?’” Nelson Tirado said.

The couple began walking.

“We noticed one of the kayaks flipped over and it was filling up with water,” Tirado said.

The second kayaker appeared to try and help the first, but eventually his kayak tipped.

The Tirados went looking for the woman who accompanied the men. Neither had cellphone reception.

“When we went looking for her we couldn’t find her,” Jennifer Tirado said. “And when we came back. she was already at that point and in hysterics. You could only see one of them (with their) head above the water and then after a few minutes you couldn’t see anything but the kayaks floating away.”

According to the Tirados, people on shore were shouting to the men to “stay above water” and “let the waves carry you.”

The couple was still at Cave Point when the two men were carried on shore by rescuers and placed in separate ambulances. The ambulances pulled away from the scene with lights flashing but no sirens.

The Jacksonport and Sturgeon Bay fire departments, the sheriff's department, Sturgeon Bay Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Natural Resources and Sevastopol EMR responded to the call.

svhernande@doorcountyadvocate.com, Samantha Hernandez on Facebook or 920-743-3321, ext. 4112.