Man dies after falling into Pistakee Lake

A man who was found floating Monday evening in the waters of Pistakee Lake has died after apparently hitting his head and falling into the lake outside a home in unincorporated Fox Lake, fire officials said.

Fox Lake firefighters responded to the call at about 5:15 p.m. at a home on the 35000 block of Marine Drive possibly being rented by the victim and his friend, Fox Lake Battalion Chief Ed Lescher said.

The victim, a 57-year-old man, and his friend, Brian E. Kane, 50, both of Oak Lawn, had tied a 16-foot Jon boat to a pier outside the home. Kane left the victim in the boat while he went inside the house for about 10 minutes, according to a Lake County Sheriff's news release. When Kane returned, he couldn't see his friend in the boat.

A short time later, Kane found the man floating in the water near the boat. The friend and a neighbor pulled the man from the water and called 911.

“We don't know if he hit his head on the boat or the pier, but he hit it and went underwater,” Lescher said. “He was unresponsive (when we arrived).”

Emergency responders took the man to Centegra Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry. He was pronounced dead later Monday evening, Lake County Sheriff's officials said.