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Lawsuit Settled In Drowning During Rescue Attempt

PONTIAC (WWJ/AP) - A lawsuit filed by the family of a Michigan man who drowned in 2011 during an unsuccessful effort to rescue a 16-year-old whose canoe overturned has been settled for about $950,000.

The lawsuit, filed by the estate of Douglas Killingbeck in Oakland County Circuit Court, was settled last week.

Killingbeck, a 48-year-old Milford resident, drowned in the Huron River on May 21, 2011 while attempting to rescue 16-year-old John Przydatek, of Harrison Township, from choppy water at the base of a dam in Milford. Killingbeck had put on a life jacket before going in, but police say the force of the water stripped it off of him.

Przydatek and another 16-year-old were in a rented canoe as part of a trip organized by Knox Presbyterian Church. The second teen made it to shore.

The lawsuit said several defendants, including the place where the canoe was rented, failed to protect people from the dam.

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