Coroner: 2 Michigan City men died after boat capsizes

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — Two men who died after their boat capsized while they were fishing on a small northern Indiana lake have been identified as Michigan City residents, a coroner said Monday.

Alonso Portwood, 48, and Robert Spikes, who was believed to be 58, died in Sunday’s accident, LaPorte County Coroner Lynn Swanson said.

Swanson said the men died after their boat capsized but their cause of death had not yet been determined.

Indiana Conservation Officer Tyler Brock said the men had been fishing Sunday from a boat on a small, private lake near the intersection of U.S. 421 and Interstate 94, just south of Michigan City.

Authorities received a call Sunday afternoon about two people who had fallen in the water while fishing, and the men’s bodies were recovered a short time later, Brock said.

The boating deaths remain under investigation by state conservation officers and the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office.