7-year-old girl believed to have drowned in lake
A 7-year-old Waukegan girl believed to have drowned was found during a massive search Thursday in Lake Michigan off the North Chicago shoreline, authorities said.
North Chicago Fire Department Cmdr. Dell Urban said a 14-year-old Waukegan girl was found unconscious when she was rescued from the water. She initially was taken to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan.
Lake County sheriff's office spokesman Christopher Thompson said the 7-year-old girl was discovered about 6 p.m., a little more than two hours after North Chicago authorities were summoned to a beach near an FBI firing range. He said there was a "whirlpool-type of effect" where the children were swimming.
Also taken to Vista East was an 8-year-old boy who was holding a pylon in the lake, authorities said. Urban said the boy was brought to the hospital for observation.
Urban couldn't say who made the emergency telephone call that sent North Chicago's police and fire departments to the beach at 3:51 p.m. Thursday. She said the 14-year-old girl was the first to be located by rescuers.
Thompson said a North Chicago police officer performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and purged water from the teenager before he was taken to the hospital.
Dive teams and rescue boats from Lake and Cook counties eventually arrived to search for the 7-year-old girl in the lake. There were at least eight rescue vessels as part of the effort, including the Lake County sheriff's marine unit, officials said.
Urban said divers recovered the 7-year-old's body. She said the child was taken to Vista East and later pronounced dead.
North Chicago police Lt. Gerald Pedrin said there were adults in the area where the apparent drowning occurred, but there was a language barrier in the effort to glean information.
Lake County Coroner Richard Keller said an autopsy for the 7-year-old girl was scheduled for today. He said it's likely she drowned.
Keller said authorities were trying to reach the child's extended family and couldn't immediately release her name.