GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Magnet fishing in the Grand River has become a popular hobby, resulting in discoveries that are far more fascinating than catching an actual fish.
An avid magnet fishermen recently reeled-in an artifact from World War II, which he's hoping to reunite with surviving family members.
"It happened about a week ago when I was magnet fishing near the Leonard St. Bridge," said Adam Gross. "I pulled in my magnet and in it was a set or dog tags."
Gross cleaned off the tags which revealed the name Clifford Voigt and the year 1943.
"When I got home, I went online to the national database, loaded in his Army serial number and it brought up all of Mr. Voigt's information," Gross said. "He was a World War II veteran from Grand Rapids."
With the help of a friend who does genealogical work, Gross was able to obtain Mr. Voigt's obituary, which revealed he was laid to rest at Mountain View Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Mesa, AZ.
"I then called the cemetery to let them know I had found his dog tags, and they contacted Mr. Voigt's son, Robert.
"Robert's wife, Carol called me and said she'd heard that her father-in-law's dog tags were found," Gross said. "I'll be calling them back again to figure out the next method for me to send the tags to them."
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