UPDATE: Investigators say Dilbag Singh drowned, do not suspect foul play
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Investigators say the man whose body was found on a Stevensville beach over the weekend drowned.
Dilbag Singh, a St. Joseph resident, was reported missing last Friday and his body was found Sunday.
Police do not suspect foul play.
On Sunday, a body was located at Glenlord Beach in Lincoln Township. The body was positively identified as Dilbag Singh, who was reported missing to Saint Joseph Department of Public Safety on Friday, December 30, 2016.
"I'm sad," Gurwinder Singh, Dilbag's nephew said. "My feeling is that [I am] sad. I'm not eating the food. Nothing. Crying... crying. My uncle is my heart."
Dilbag Singh ran three convenience stores around Berrien County with a partner. He would frequently give his employees rides to each location but after he did so on Friday, he was gone.
"It's so crazy," Sandeep Singh, who works for Dilbag said. "He can't be that irresponsible. There's got to be something really wrong. Some big thing."
After dropping off Gurwinder, Dilbag said he was going to the local Sikh Temple just a block away to pray; where he was caught on video and the last time he was seen alive.
"His wife called me to see in the video if he came or not," Dharminder Singh, a Priest at the Sikh Religious Society said. "I went and checked and he came in the morning at like 8:30. It was very shocking to me. He was a very nice guy. Very nice."
Dharminder Singh says he heard Dilbag had disappeared on Friday and then on Saturday, as he and his wife were driving to the temple, they saw an SUV being pulled from near the lake.
At approximately 11 a.m. on Saturday, Singh's vehicle was located below the bluff near the lakeshore in the 3000 block of Lakeshore Drive.
"I saw that truck and I was like, oh, that looks like his truck," Dharminder Singh said. "I find out that he's missing Friday evening and Saturday afternoon we saw the truck over there. I didn't have good feelings about it."
Just a day after the truck was found, Dilbag's body was found a few miles south on Glenlord Beach in Lincoln Twp.
"It is weird that we find out this way that he died," Dharminder Singh said. "What could happen? The way he died, it's not a normal death you know? It's very shocking."
Friends and family mentioned Dilbag had dealt with depression in the past, going back to his home country of India for treatment. However, they say he was happy and normal when they saw him last. All of which makes this more difficult to process for them.
"I don't think it's suicide or nothing like that," Sandeep Singh said. "He has his own family, his businesses and children. It can't be suicide. It's got to be something. I don't know. I'm trying to find it too."
"I'm also confused," Gurwinder Singh said. "What happened? My auntie is confused. My whole family is confused. What is the reason?"
Dharminder Singh says this has been especially difficult for Dilbag's wife.
"That's her whole world," he said. "She lost her husband. You think about everything. Finances, because he was running all the businesses. He was bringing money home. That's her whole world and upside down. I can not imagine. She's very much in shock."
At this time there is still an open investigation into the circumstances. An autopsy will be conducted within the next 48 hours.