GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Adam Gross of Grand Rapids, Michigan, took up magnet fishing as a hobby a few years ago. And last week, he caught something special off of a city bridge.
He pulled up dog tags from the bottom of the Grand River that belonged to a man named Clifford J. Voigt.
“They’re dated 1943, so who knows when they actually ended up in there,” Adam Gross said.
Voigt was a World War II veteran, originally from Grand Rapids.
Through some internet sleuthing, Gross was able to find Voigt's obituary. Voigt was laid to rest in Mesa, Arizona, at Mountain View Memorial Gardens.
“It would be awesome to go in person, you know? Hand it over, you know? But Arizona and Michigan, we’re quite a ways away,” Gross said.
Gross did the next best thing and reached out to the cemetery.
“Next step is just waiting on the cemetery. We’re going to see if I write a letter to the family, and they hand that over. Or if I hand my information over to the cemetery, and they contact me back,” Gross said.
Gross says he hopes Voigt's family reaches out. If not, he hopes this story reaches them.
“They’re not just dog tags. They’re someone’s history,” Gross said.
This story was originally published by Julie Dunmire at WXMI.
