The Door County Sheriff’s Department has released the names of two kayakers who died Friday in the waters of Lake Michigan, about 100 yards off Cave Point County Park, in the Town of Sevastopol. Sheriff Steve Delarwelle says 29-year old Matthew Alan Tauferner of Sturgeon Bay and 21-year old Dylan Tyler Dohr of Clintonville died when their kayaks capsized at about 11:30AM. Neither individual was wearing a flotation device and the water temperature was 43 degrees at the time. Rescue boats from the Jacksonport and Sturgeon Bay fire departments and the US Coast Guard responded. The Jacksonport fire boat located the unresponsive men and pulled them out of the water, transferring them to the coast guard boat. They were brought to shore and transported to Door County Medical Center by a county ambulance. At 2PM, the sheriff’s office was informed that the men had been pronounced dead. Dohr was a member of the United States Marines and was home on leave. He was stationed in California. Tauferner was employed at Fincantieri/Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay. The Door County Sheriff’s Department is continuing its investigation into the drowning deaths Friday.
