Three longtime friends were killed in a devastating nighttime boat crash on Michigan’s Lake St. Clair, while a critically injured survivor clung to a floating cushion and struggled toward shore in search of help.
Craig Miller, 52, Heidi Baldwin, 56, and Gerald Grzadzinski, 64, died when their boat was hit by another vessel on Wednesday night, October 7.
The crash happened near MacRay Harbor. The group’s black Formula Thunderbird was struck by a white Sea Ray Sundancer and later sank.
Rescue crews recovered the three victims at about 5 a.m. the next morning. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
Dawn Grzadzinski, Gerald’s wife, survived the wreck. She reportedly grabbed a cushion from the sinking boat and began swimming toward land.
She is still hospitalized as investigators work to determine what led to the fatal collision.
Friends say the victims shared a rare bond and belonged to a close-knit boating community that regularly spent weekends and holidays together on the water.
Jodi and Edward Wanket, both 54, were close to all three victims and often joined them for boating trips.
Craig Miller, 52, shown celebrating his daughter Ashleigh’s graduation, was one of three close friends killed in the Lake St. Clair boat collision
Heidi Baldwin, 56, was an Air Force veteran and devoted mother to her 15-year-old son. Friends described her as generous and “always laughing”
Gerald Grzadzinski, 64, known by friends as “Lenny,” was a beloved boat mechanic who knew Lake St. Clair “better than anybody out there”
For Jodi, the sudden loss of three close friends has been nearly impossible to grasp.
“Losing one of them would be bad enough, but losing three of them all together at the same time is… it’s a lot,” she told The Detroit News. “It’s a lot.”
Baldwin, a St. Clair Shores mother and Air Force veteran, was among those killed. Her 15-year-old son, Zander, was the focus of her life.
Jodi had known Baldwin since they attended Anchor Bay High School, though their friendship became especially close about 12 years ago.
She remembered Baldwin as intensely loyal—someone who spoke her mind without hesitation and would go to extraordinary lengths for the people she loved.
Baldwin would “tell you exactly how it is,” Jodi said, while also being the kind of person who would “give you the shirt off her back.”
Although she was outspoken, Baldwin was relaxed by nature and treasured time spent with her friends.
“She was always laughing,” Jodi said. Baldwin’s teenage son, she added, was “her whole entire world.”
The victims’ boat was discovered overturned in Lake St. Clair after the nighttime crash killed three friends and sent a fourth person to the hospital
Aerial footage reveals extensive damage to one of the vessels involved in the deadly collision, with the impact appearing concentrated around its passenger seating area
Another angle shows the wrecked boat and its badly damaged seating area following the horrific crash that claimed three lives on October 7
Baldwin ran a housecleaning business and was a familiar face among the friends who gathered on Lake St. Clair almost every weekend.
Funeral arrangements for the mother have not yet been finalized.
Grzadzinski, meanwhile, was a beloved boat mechanic from Chesterfield Township who was affectionately known to his friends as ‘Lenny.’
He had spent so much time navigating Lake St. Clair that his friends believed there was almost nobody who understood its waters better.
Jodi said Grzadzinski knew the lake ‘better than anybody out there.’
His passion for boating was so intense that the group would venture onto the water throughout the year, even during the colder months when ice threatened to make trips impossible.
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Edward Wanket said Wednesday evenings had become something of a tradition, with the group regularly piling aboard Grzadzinski’s boat and heading out for dinner.
‘He was just an awesome dude,’ Edward said of his friend.
Grzadzinski’s wife, Dawn, was the only person aboard the Thunderbird known to have survived the collision.
Edward said she later described the terrifying ordeal of escaping the sinking boat and attempting to reach safety.
According to his account, Dawn managed to find a cushion from one of the boat’s rear seats and used it to keep herself afloat.
Dawn Grzadzinski miraculously survived the collision that killed her husband Gerald and two close friends, clinging to a floating seat cushion before swimming to shore for help
Craig Miller is pictured enjoying a boat ride with daughter Ashleigh before the tragedy. The father of three was remembered as a cheerful man who was ‘always smiling.’
Heidi Baldwin, a mother and business owner from St. Clair Shores, was one of three friends who died when their boat sank following the collision
Heidi is seen enjoying herself out of the lake with friends during an earlier boating trip
The group were part of a tight-knit boating community that spent weekends and vacations together
She then began swimming, struggling through the water for an extended period before eventually reaching land.
Edward said she had initially been ‘going in the wrong direction.’
Despite the exhausting ordeal, she managed to make it ashore and seek help.
She remains in hospital recovering from the collision. Her precise injuries have not been disclosed.
No funeral date has yet been announced for her husband.
The third victim, Miller, was a hardworking electrician and devoted father of three from Macomb Township.
Friends remembered him as a relentlessly cheerful man who rarely seemed to have a bad word to say about anyone.
‘And he was just always smiling. I mean, he… was never mad at anybody, ever,’ Edward recalled.
Miller’s obituary paints a picture of a father whose children were the driving force behind his life.
He is survived by Tyler Switzer, Grant Miller and Ashleigh Miller, along with his father, stepfather, sister and brothers.
‘He took pride in being a father, coaching his children’s basketball, football, and softball teams, and creating lasting memories along the way,’ his obituary reads.
‘Known for being the life of the party, Craig had a special way of bringing people together and filling every gathering with laughter and fun.’
Craig Miller celebrates his 50th birthday with loved ones in a happier family photograph. His obituary described him as the ‘life of the party.’ Seen with daughter Ashleigh and son, Grant
Heidi Baldwin smiles alongside a companion in a photograph shared on Facebook. Her teenage son, Zander, was described by friends as ‘her whole entire world’
His family has set up a GoFundMe to help cover the financial burden left by his sudden death, including mortgage payments, household bills and other expenses.
‘Our hope is to relieve some of these burdens as we grieve, heal, and adjust to life without our dad,’ the fundraiser states.
Meanwhile, the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation into the collision.
Authorities have identified the driver of the white Sea Ray Sundancer involved in the crash and said that person is cooperating with detectives.
Investigators have not said what caused the boats to collide, and no criminal charges have been brought.