Matthew Ryan Kihlstrand

Matthew Ryan Kihlstrand died attempting to save a boy from drowning, Sodus, Michigan, June 19, 2020. An 8-year-old boy, who entered the St. Joseph River near where his party had anchored a boat at the end of an island, struggled to swim in the swift current. Alerted, a member of the boy’s party, Kihlstrand, 45, sales representative, left the boat and swam after the boy, whom the current carried downstream along with Kihlstrand, who ultimately submerged and did not resurface. Two men camping in the vicinity swam out and helped the boy safely exit at a river bank. Water-rescue crews searched the scene that night and the following day for Kihlstrand, who was found two days later at a point about 1.5 miles downstream. He had drowned.