The body of a 57-year-old Ohio man was recovered about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in southwest  Lake Leelanau.

Sgt. Michael Lamb responded to a call from a waterfront home on South Sand Bar Drive, north of Cedar. The man, a seasonal resident whose name was not available at press time Wednesday, was standing and the end of a dock when he fell in, Sheriff Michael F. Oltersdorf believes.

“It appears he had a pre-existing medical condition and may have fallen into the water,”  said Oltersdorf, adding that family members and neighbors pulled the man from the water and began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation. “The medical examiner will have to determine the cause of death.”

If determined to be a drowning, it would be the first of the summer season in Leelanau County and the first in nearly two years.

On  Oct. 29, 2005 the body of 23-year-old Christopher Hanson was discovered at the bottom of the Leland River near his workplace, the Bluebird.

Earlier that month, Robert “Chris” Townsend, 48, apparently became stranded and disoriented when the borrowed pontoon boat from which he was fishing had mechanical problems. The boat was found drifting in the bay, unmanned. Townsend’s body was discovered in about 60 feet of water offshore of the new BayView development on Oct. 5.

On Aug. 25, 2005, David Mark Schmid, 49, of Ludington lost his life on Big Glen Lake. He disappeared beneath the waves after rescuing one of his two daughters who had jumped off a pontoon boat to retrieve a hat that had blown away.

An intensive search for Schmid’s body lasted for more than a week, with searches continuing for several more weeks. His remains have never been found.