Police believe they found the body of the 46-year-old fisherman who went missing Sunday.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

• Previous article: Body found floating in Whitmore Lake

Police said Wednesday afternoon that they believe the body pulled from Whitmore Lake earlier that day is that of the 46-year-old Green Oak man who went missing while fishing Sunday.

"I'm pretty confident this is the individual who was reported missing," Green Oak Township Police Chief Robert Brookins told AnnArbor.com around 4:30 p.m.

Brookins said the body has been taken to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing where the Livingston County Medical Examiner's Office will make further efforts at making a positive identification.

Authorities pulled the man from the water about 1:45 p.m., about two hours after they were first called out there by residents of East Shore Drive who discovered it.

Brookins said residents on shore spotted something floating in the water, prompting one of them to ride out on a personal watercraft. The resident called 911 around 11:45 a.m. to report finding a body.

The 46-year-old Green Oak Township man was fishing on the lake when he went missing Sunday. The Associated Press reported his boat was seen circling on the lake with no one aboard. The man's name has not been released.

Mary Christianson and Angela Ostrom, both of Northfield Township, gathered at the lake's edge with other residents to watch as authorities on three different boats retrieved the body Wednesday afternoon.

There was a sense of relief among the residents that the missing man was found, but also an outpouring of sympathy.

"We feel awful for the family," Christianson said.

John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.