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Did He Walk Across A Frozen Lake? Police Reopen Suspicious Missing Persons Case

Investigators in Michigan think it is unlikely that David Gionet disappeared as witnesses claimed.

Verity Partington
2 min readNov 10, 2022
David Gionet, who vanished in 1983 (Image: Michigan State Police)

New information in a long-cold missing persons case has led to police in Michigan reopening the investigation and calling for fresh tips from the public.

David Robert Gionet was 18 when he went to a party in Green Lake Township on March 7th 1983 and never made it home. Witnesses always claimed that they had last seen him at around 5:30 AM walking along the roadway back to his residence.

They also told investigators that he had talked about taking a short-cut across a nearby lake to get back more quickly, since the water was still partially frozen.

For this reason, it was always assumed that David had drowned in an accident after falling through the ice, even though intensive searches of the lake failed to uncover his body.

However, a statement from Michigan State Police has now said this assumption is being questioned in the wake of new information that has come to light.

It states that David was actually afraid of water, plus he was aware that the ice on the lake was starting to melt in the spring thaw. Indeed, investigators have been told he had removed his ice shanty (a type of fisherman’s shelter) in the days before the party because of the warmer weather.

“This information makes it more unlikely he attempted to walk across the lake,” Michigan State Police said.

Detectives are now working on David’s case once again and have urged anyone with information to contact the MSP Cadillac Post at 231–779–6040.

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Verity Partington
Verity Partington

Written by Verity Partington

A writer and author of crime thrillers living in the UK. Partial to books, stationery, papercrafts and walking. You can find her books on Amazon here: https://a

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