Search becomes a recovery effort for man who fell off tube pulled by boat on Fox Lake

A man who fell off a tube being pulled by a boat Friday morning in Fox Lake is missing and believed to have died, authorities said.

Two children who also were on the tube and wearing life jackets survived, Illinois Conservation Police Capt. Eric Schreiber said.

Marine rescue crews are continuing to search for the man, believed to be in his 20s, Lake County sheriff's office spokesman Lt. Christopher Covelli said. The man was reported missing after he entered the water around 9:30 a.m. and did not resurface.

As of 2:30 p.m., the mission had transitioned into a recovery rather than a rescue, Schreiber said. It is not known whether the man was wearing a life jacket at the time he fell into the water.

The search is continuing south of Crabapple Island, near the intersection of Fox and Nippersink lakes on the Chain O' Lakes, Schreiber said.

Multiple fire department crews are on the scene attempting to locate the man, Covelli said.

Schreiber said alcohol is not believed to have contributed to the incident at this point.

Four people were thought to have been on the boat pulling the tube, which had three people on it, including the two children and the man, Schreiber said. The tube reportedly flipped over and the man did not surface.

There was clear visibility on Fox Lake, slight winds and not a lot of boat traffic at the time, Schreiber said.

The Lake County sheriff's office has had marine unit officers on the scene, Covelli said. Illinois Conservation Police are the primary law enforcement agency at the scene.

On Aug. 6, a 43-year-old Joliet man drowned in the Chain O' Lakes while assisting a girl who was struggling to swim, authorities said.

According to reports, Lake County Sheriff's Marine Unit deputies were dispatched about 3:40 p.m. to Fox Lake for a possible drowning. When deputies arrived, the man had been pulled from the lake by a passing boater and driven to a marina near Antioch.

Authorities said Michael Jacobs, his girlfriend and her three daughters were in a rented boat on the lake when one of the girls started having trouble swimming. Jacobs jumped in to help her, according to police.

Jacobs went under water and did not resurface. He was located submerged approximately 15 minutes later.