Woman mourns dad's death; has questions

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) - Police removed two bodies from the Kalamazoo River in Battle Creek Saturday morning.

A family member identified one of the victims as 41-year-old Ronald Bish. Police identified the other victim as 43-year-old Gerald Murray.

Police received the initial report that a body was in the river near the Kendall Street bridge when a person in the area spotted it. Emergency crews arrived on scene just after 9 a.m. Soon after they discovered the second body.

Police identified the victims through fingerprints and began notifying the families of the victims Saturday afternoon.

"They said 'I'm sorry to give you this news but your dad's dead,'" Marcia Bish, Ronald Bish's daughter, told 24 Hour News 8. "I just started crying."

Police said they did not suspect that foul play was a factor in the deaths but an autopsy would be performed to determine an exact cause.

"I want to know what happened - how he died- 'cause it's strange to see two people drowned at the same time," Bish said.

The scene unfolded right outside Mack Tanner's home.

"My question is did it happen in this area...it could have been further down the river somewhere," he said.

Marcia Bish said police told her that one of the victims had a receipt in his pocket. It was time-stamped for 6 p.m. Friday.

Investigators were on the scene until Saturday afternoon, when the unfolding tragedy became strangely juxtaposed with July 4th celebrations.

"This is the holiday," Tanner said. "We have the air show, the balloon show, and we have dead bodies in the river."

Police say an autopsy will be performed in the coming days to determine exactly what caused the men's deaths.