Beach near Mount Baldy to reopen 4 years after boy trapped

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (AP) - Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore officials say they're ready to reopen the beach near Mount Baldy nearly four years after the massive dune swallowed a 6-year-old boy.

National Lakeshore spokesman Bruce Rowe told The (Northwest Indiana) Times on Wednesday (http://bit.ly/2pYDEnU ) that a date has yet to be selected to reopen the beach along Lake Michigan in northern Indiana. Mount Baldy itself will remain closed to visitors because research shows more holes are likely to open on the massive dune.

An estimated 11-feet of sand swallowed a 6-year-old boy from Sterling, Illinois, for more than three hours before he was rescued July 12, 2013.

Rowe says a new pathway needs to be developed from the parking lot to the beach because deterioration from high waves has left the former route unusable.

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Information from: The Times, http://www.nwitimes.com