A beloved Michigan father was found dead after he went to get something from his car during a family outing and never returned.
The body of 52-year-old Robert Loren Bacon was recovered from the Cass River in Frankenmuth on Saturday around 2 p.m. He was last seen in a swimming pool on the evening of December 27.
His ex-wife, Melissa McLenna, said the father of two met his daughters, 15 and 13, and his mother at the Bavarian inn around 6.40pm that day.
‘[He] went to his car to get something and came back to the pool to join his family,” she said told McClatchy News. “He never returned to his family at the pool.”
Although Bacon said he went to his car, surveillance footage showed a different story.
‘[Investigators] I have a video of him going to the amusement center after leaving the hotel room and never coming back to his car,” McLenna told WNEMnoting that there are some exits that do not have cameras. “They don’t have any video of him leaving the building.”
Bacon was officially reported missing on December 30, when McLenna and other concerned family members took to social media to spread the news of his disappearance.
Tragically, Frankenmuth police announced Saturday that his body had been found by dive teams in the river near Heritage Park.
Robert Loren Bacon, 52, was recovered from the Cass River in Frankenmuth around 2 p.m. Saturday after disappearing the evening of Dec. 27.
He had told his family he would meet them at the resort pool after grabbing something from his car
His preliminary cause of death “appears to be drowning,” the department said, adding that a final determination will be made by the Saginaw County Medical Examiner’s Office.
After days of searching for her ex-husband, McLenna took to Facebook on Sunday to mourn his death.
‘I have no words to describe how we feel. We are so sad. I would like to thank everyone who helped in the search for Robert. Thank you to all who have prayed for us and who continue to pray for us,” she wrote.
In a subsequent post, McLenna said: “Today I’m turning off my phone. We need time together off the phone,” as she once again thanked the community for their help.
After Bacon didn’t return from his car, McLenna said his car was found in the parking lot and his phone went “straight to voicemail.”
His car, a silver sedan, was photographed on the resort grounds on January 1. Nothing suspicious was found in the vehicle, police said.
After Bacon didn’t return from his car, McLenna said his car was found in the parking lot and his phone went “straight to voicemail.”
The department also determined that his personal belongings, including keys, his wallet and phone, were with him, but his phone had been turned off since he was last seen.
“I was told he was wearing a jacket with a hood that looks like a checked gray, black, white jacket, with the white fur on the inside, a blue cap – dark blue – blue jeans, and he was wearing his Nike flip-flops. ,” McLenna told the outlet.
Prior to her ex-husband’s discovery, McLenna expressed concern for him and their children during his disappearance.
‘My poor children, our children, I don’t know what to tell them. They ask, “Mom, have they found him yet?” and I just say, ‘No, we’re still looking,'” she recalled.
DailyMail.com contacted the Saginaw County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Frankenmuth Police Department for comment.