Man pulled unconscious from Grayslake lake dies

The 19-year-old man pulled unconscious from a neighborhood swimming hole in Grayslake died early Thursday morning, and his preliminary cause of death is drowning, the Lake County coroner's office said.

The man, who went under at about 5:50 p.m. in Lake Leopold in the Prairie Crossing neighborhood, died at 1:44 a.m., Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper said.

An autopsy conducted Thursday determined his preliminary cause of death to be drowning. Toxicology results are pending, he said.

The man, whose identity will be released Friday morning, was swimming in the lake near Levi Baxter Street and Prairie Trail when he began to struggle and call for help, Grayslake Fire Batallion Chief James Weidman said.

Bystanders tried to help the man but weren't able to keep him above water, officials said.

Two Grayslake police officers tried without success to dive to find the man. Firefighters eventually found him at 6:10 p.m. in about 9 feet of water, according to the news release.

The man was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Hospital in critical condition, according to the release. He was unconscious at the time, Weidman said.

There were no immediate signs the man was experiencing medical problems when he called for help, Weidman said.

He had been visiting from out of town with family, and other people were in the lake at the time, officials said.

Round Lake, Libertyville, Fox Lake, Lake Villa and Antioch fire departments helped Grayslake authorities with their search.

• Daily Herald correspondent Katie Smith contributed to this report.