Found Deceased MI- Garen Collins, 47, Riverfront Park Campground, Niles Twp, Berrien County, June 2019

The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department is trying to find a 47-year-old man reported missing from the Riverfront Park Campground on the Dowagiac River in Niles Township. He is Garen Collins, who lives at the campground. Investigators say his car was found in the parking lot of the Pucker Street Dam, but he was nowhere to be seen. A search is underway by the sheriff’s office and the Niles Township Fire Department. Collins is 6’2″, 265 pounds with short brown hair, brown eyes, and a goatee.


Search Underway For Missing Man In Niles Township

 

Police search for missing man after vehicle found near Dowagiac River
[...]

About 6:30 a.m. Sunday, June 9, the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint of a missing person from the Riverfront Park Campground along the Dowagiac River in Niles Township.

The missing person is a white male named Garen Patrick Collins, 47, who resides at the Riverfront Park Campground at 1701 Pucker Street in Niles Township.

[...]

Google Maps - 1701 Pucker Street, Niles Township

 

Family of missing Niles man desperate for his return
[...]

MJ found Collins' clothes and shoes by the river bank. She said it is impossible he had a heart attack and fell in the water.

"I can't even explain how I am feeling," MJ said tearfully. "My heart's breaking for me. My heart's breaking for his mom, his kids. I just -- I can't describe how it feels."

JT, MJ's best friend, said it's unbearable to see the family suffer while Collins remains missing.

[...]

 

Another man missing by the water while his clothes and wallet have been found. Ugh, what is going on? Where are you, Garen? Prayers for your safe recovery.

 

A tow truck driver last saw him where he is known to fish and his shoes and clothes were found by the riverbank.

Odd that his clothes were found by the riverbank.

Is there a bridge that he may have jumped from for fun or other reasons?

Does he tend to bath in the river?

MOO

 

Garen's Facebook. Lots of photos of the RV park. Garen Collins

 

from that same article @PommyMommy posted above:

"When you see families going through this, you can only imagine, and I promise you, whatever you imagine, it's not what we're feeling right now," Turner explained.

I wonder what this means. Ok, I know her sentiment, but it strikes me as just a little different. Language is funny like that.

But also, why does she say it is impossible he had a heart attack and fell into the river? How very specific. No substantiation as to why it is impossible.

I certainly hope Garen shows up soon with a tale to tell. Very sad the not knowing for anyone who cares for and loves this guy.

ETA: Spent a lot of time in Niles as a kid. Lots of open land and the river and very nice bikers. =)

 

Garen seems like a pretty funny guy, I had to share!
I hope everything turns out ok with this one. I'm unnerved about the clothing being found.
I don't have a good feeling and that sucks. MOO

 

I wonder if the "impossible" isn't a typo? Could she have said it was possible he had a heart attack and fell in?

I don't think that's what happened tbh but it seems like a more likely thing for MJ to say.

 

SBM

In this video @ 01:15 his wife says she thinks he was swimming or fishing and he has a bad heart, she thinks he maybe had a heart attack or fell in.

@ 00:50 She says she found his clothes and shoes by the riverbank but NO keys or wallet. Wife says he knows how treacherous it can be and he wouldn't go down there with nothing. She doesn't think anything malicious happened. Hmm...

The tow truck driver spotted him by the damn.

It looks like he enjoys day drinking, he could have been drinking, had a misstep, and fell in and is caught in the undercurrent of the damn? Would he have his clothing off to fish by the damn?

And if his clothing is off, why isn't his wallet and keys in his pant pocket or setting next to them to prevent from getting wet or lost?

Is the friend hinky in the video or just awkward, maybe she isn't close with the wife? Hmm...

MOO

Family of missing Niles man desperate for his return

 

I thought that, too. That makes more sense, given what the wife said, that Garen had a bad heart.

 

There's a photo on his FB of him holding a bottle of Nitrostat: Garen Collins

I can't make sense of him taking his clothes and shoes off. Even to go swimming - because it was 6:30 a.m. when his wife last saw him. Doesn't make sense to me.

 

In the video, you can see the truck being towed away. It's a nice big truck.

Do you think law enforcement searched it, checked for prints, and verified if anything was missing?

From Garen's FB, he has some interesting photos of weapons and knives that sounded like he carried on him.

I wonder if they are accounted for?
Garen Collins
Garen Collins
Garen Collins
Garen Collins
MOO

 

Interesting that there is no mention of finding his cell phone.

MOO

 

Thanks @PommyMommy for the map of where he lived. I thought I would try to map also where his clothes and shoes were found:

Google Maps (I didn't know which parking lot his vehicle was found in, as you can access that part of the river from both sides, so I just marked the road just north of the dam)

There is a dam right below Pucker Street, so I assumed that the dam would be the Pucker Street Dam. Google maps has "Salmon Fishing" marked right below the dam. The water below the dam looks like it is moving pretty fast.

I'm surprised that they didn't find any fishing gear (or keys) by where his clothes and shoes were found.

 

Thank you for doing that. I didn't realize the dam was 2 miles away. I thought it was right there in the same area as the campground. It makes more sense to me now that he had probably gone to fish. Then what...? MOO

 

Berrien Undersheriff Seeks Public Help In Finding Missing Niles Township Man

The Berrien County Sheriff’ Office, Berrien County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit, Berrien County Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit, Berrien County Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau, and Niles Township Fire Department are all taking part in the search after Heit's office received a call from the campground along the Dowagiac River in Niles Township.

Social Media is quiet:

Berrien County Sheriff's Department
Niles Township Fire Department Association, INC
Berrien County MI (@BerrienCountyMI) | Twitter

 

Search crews will back on Dowagiac River Friday to search for missing 47-year-old man
Thursday, June 13th 2019

Search crews will be back on the Dowagiac River on Friday, searching for a missing Niles man.

47-year-old Garen Collins was last seen Sunday morning.

Rescue crews spent all day yesterday searching for him.
They were back this morning but suspended the search due to weather.

 

This is awful, I so want to believe that he is ok. Maybe he did have a heart attack and fell in the water, or a stroke?

Please please be ok, Garen. Just reading his FB page, he seems like a fun loving guy that loved life and the outdoors.

Another man missing by water (well, we can at this time, assume that). What is with all these men and water lately? None of them appeared to be drinking or had any issues or fights going on at the time of their disappearances. It's breaking my heart.

 

I can't find a thing about the searches yesterday. Tomorrow will be one week missing...