Rolling Meadows man drowns in rain-swollen retention pond
A 28-year-old Rolling Meadows man drowned Saturday in a soccer field flooded by the relentless rain.
Alan G. Byrd went to the park in a car with two friends, authorities said, when he and one of the friends decided to go swimming shortly after noon in the temporary retention pond that flooded the normally dry Arlington Heights park.
A woman eating lunch at the park called 911 at 12:40 p.m. after she saw Byrd "distressed" in the water, said Arlington Heights Police Comdr. Nick Pecora. Byrd's friends searched for him under the water, "but they couldn't find him," Pecora said.
The water's sudden dramatic rise formed a deep, surreal temporary lake on the grassy field near the intersection of Kirchoff and New Wilke roads where kids play soccer and baseball during a normal Saturday.
The water was 25 to 30 feet deep in some places, Pecora says.
"There's a net, a soccer net about halfway down," shouted one of the rescue divers as he popped to the surface near one of the light towers on the soccer field. A baseball field backstop also was covered by water.
A dozen rescuers in boats and scuba gear searched the waters as the man's two friends pointed to the spot where they last saw him swimming.
A sonar device was used to locate the body, which was recovered by a diver at 4:15 p.m. Pecora said there was no evidence that Byrd and his friends had alcohol or any other substance that could have played a role in the drowning. He reportedly was the father of two.
Byrd's friends told firefighters they "felt a pull," as they were swimming. Dennis Bowe, superintendent of utilities for the village, closed the four big drains in the middle of the field to eliminate any potential suction while the divers searched, but Byrd's body was found in the same spot where he went under about 30 feet from shore, Pecora said. The drains, which didn't hamper divers, were reopened within an hour to help alleviate flooding in the community.
Byrd's wife, brother and other loved ones huddled under umbrellas as they watched the sad search. The two swimming friends stood shirtless, sobbing and cursing, in the cold rain until the rescue effort evolved into a search to recover the body. Then the men retreated to their Jeep.
A brief confrontation between one of the dead man's relatives and the two friends ended when police escorted them to different locations.
An unrelenting rain pounded Arlington Heights firefighters and other rescue workers, who came from Wheeling, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Elk Grove Village and other suburbs. A couple dozen onlookers watched the search from the safety of nearby picnic shelters.
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