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Two Oakland County men — one with dementia — drowned over the weekend in separate incidents, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said.
In the first incident, Gerald Vernus Burge, 86, of Springfield Township, who had dementia, was reported missing at 4 a.m. Sunday. His swim trunks were missing from the house.
A deputy and a K9 went to the residence in the 8400 block of Rattalee Lake Road in Springfield Township, and found Burge dead in a pond on the property, according to a press release from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.
In the second incident, a 911 caller reported that Jason Dwayne Brookshire, 49, of White Lake Township, was on a boat on White Lake in Highland Township around 7 p.m. Saturday when he entered the water and did not resurface. It was unclear how Brookshire, who was not wearing a life vest, entered the water.
Dive teams from multiple counties and an Oakland County Sheriff's helicopter searched the area and recovered the body late Saturday night about 100 feet from shore in water with heavy vegetation, the press release said.
Authorities said alcohol is believed to have been a factor. An autopsy is pending.
