Former college QB found dead in woods

The body of a former star quarterback was found after a two-day search through Baldwin, Mich., came to a solemn end.

Cullen Finnerty, 30, was on a fishing trip Sunday when he disappeared after apparently experiencing some kind of episode of stress or paranoia. Finnerty, who led the Grand Valley State Lakers to three national championships, spoke last to his family Sunday night.

He called his wife Sunday night and said he was in danger, said Lake County sheriff Robert Hilts.

“He phoned his wife and explained he was afraid,” Hilts told reporters. “He left his equipment and ran off into the woods.”

Volunteers, including 38 members of the current GVSU football team and more former players, combed the area around Bray Creek on the Baldwin River in Lake County, about 65 miles north of Grand Rapids. His body was found Tuesday night about half a mile from where his boat was discovered, Hilts said.

“We were walking a good line,” Scott Boyd, a member of the group that found Finnerty's body, told the Detroit Free Press. “I squatted down. We had seen some trail. And a girl shouted. She walked right up on it. I thought, ‘Oh no.’”

“I can’t believe it,” Boyd said.

Hilts said no cause of death was apparent at the scene.

Finnerty is survived by his wife and two children.