Body found near Indiana Dunes identified as Carol Stream woman
The body recovered near the Indiana Dunes State Park has been identified as missing Carol Stream resident Chase Froese, officials said Sunday.
Just before noon on Sunday, the Porter Volunteer Fire Department Dive Rescue team recovered the body, which was spotted about 250 yards off the shore by a Lake County Sheriff's Department helicopter, said the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement District 10.
Froese's cause of death is believed to be accidental drowning, officials said. An investigation is being conducted by Indiana Conservation officers and the National Lakeshore Park Rangers.
Rescue crews had been searching in Lake Michigan for the 20-year-old Froese since she went missing at 6:50 p.m. Friday while swimming with friends.
The Indiana DNR said she and two female friends began to struggle in the water when they were swimming off the coast of Porter Beach in Indiana Dunes State Park. Rescuers were able to save two of the women, but Froese could not be found.
Porter Beach in Indiana Dunes State Park is about 80 miles southeast of Carol Stream.
Froese was a student in the class of 2017 at Calvin College, a Christian liberal arts college in Grand Rapids, Michigan, according to the college's website.
According to Froese's Facebook page, she worked as a Web production assistant at Calvin College and was a member of Facebook groups called "International Development Studies" and "Calvin College Students for Life."
Froese was also a 2013 graduate of Wheaton Academy in West Chicago.
In a letter addressed to the Wheaton Academy community, Principal Steve Bult said teachers remember Froese for "her outgoing personality and her love for her fellow classmates." She had also been involved in orchestra all four years of high school.
"Chase inspired others through her love for God and the extension of that love for other people," Bult said.