MONROE – Authorities in Monroe County have recovered the body of 23-year-old Hussein Afif Hassoun, an Arab American man from Dearborn, nearly 40 hours after he drowned in Lake Erie on Sunday evening.

Hassoun disappeared in the lake’s depths after jumping into the water from a boat off the shore of Sterling State Park in Frenchtown Township at around 6 p.m. He had been with four other adults on a 34-foot white boat. All returned to the boat except Hassoun, who remained missing.

On Tuesday, August 12, while search efforts were still underway in the area where Hassoun was last seen, a boater reported spotting a body floating at around 8:45 a.m.

Members of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Marine Division immediately responded and were able to recover Hassoun’s body, bringing it to shore and turning it over to the Lucas County Medical Examiner’s Office in neighboring Ohio.

Officials in Monroe County, located in the southeastern most part of Michigan, said Hassoun began struggling in the water before being pulled under by the current and disappearing from the sight of others on the boat. They added that he was not wearing a life jacket.

As soon as his disappearance was reported, authorities launched an intensive search, but were forced to suspend efforts around 11 p.m. due to rough waves, before resuming over the next two days until the body was recovered.

A one-week memorial for Hassoun, who was originally from southern Lebanon, will be held at the Islamic Center of America at 6 p.m. on Sunday, August 17.