15-year-old boy discovered lifeless after going lacking whereas swimming in Chain O’ Lakes close to Village of Fox Lake

Authorities introduced a 15-year-old boy was discovered lifeless after he jumped into the water to swim however by no means resurfaced within the Chain O’ Lakes close to the Village of Fox Lake Monday night.

The Fox Lake Fire Protection District and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded round 6 p.m. to Myers Bay, which is a part of Pistakee Lake, for a report of a water rescue.

Emergency responders obtained a report of a 15-year-old boy who jumped off a leisure boat to go swimming in Myers Bay, however he went underwater and by no means resurfaced, in line with Lake County Sheriff’s Office Chief Christopher Covelli.

Covelli mentioned the boy didn’t have a life vest on when he jumped into the water.

The first rescue crews arrived on scene at round 6:07 p.m. and – together with the Lake County Sheriff’s Marine Unit and Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police – started rescue operations, Fox Lake Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Sam Santiago mentioned.

“We put divers in the water initially, went through several rounds, making a search, and eventually had to switch over to what we call a side scan sonar, a technology where we can scan the water while the divers are outside of the water,” Santiago mentioned.

One of the battalion fireplace chiefs who lived within the space shortly obtained a “last seen” level for the teenager, permitting rescue crews to carry out search patterns round that particular level, Santiago mentioned.

At least one drone was additionally deployed for an aerial view of the water.

The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated early within the incident to convey further fireplace division boats and specialised divers and sonar technicians.

“We wanted to get dive operations knowing that we confirmed somebody in the water,” Santiago mentioned.

A field alarm by MABAS was requested to “get those additional resources to the scene as quickly as possible to support us for that rescue mode,” Santiago added.

A slew of rescue personnel and tools from all through Lake and McHenry counties responded and gathered at Ben Watts Marina, 116 Route 12 in Fox Lake.

Santiago mentioned that Ben Watts Marina was chosen as a result of its accessibility.

“If we go anywhere else, a lot of times it gets bottlenecked or smaller roadway that we can’t necessarily get all of our boats and all of our equipment into,” Santiago mentioned.

“Staging them here [Ben Watts Marina] and going via across the water expedites the process to get the resources to where they need to be in that forward position of operation,” Santiago added.

Despite the huge variety of assets, Santiago mentioned operational collaboration went easily due to a common incident administration construction.

“We delegate positions out, and we’ll have team leads for each discipline, and everybody reports back to command,” Santiago mentioned.

“Everything is organized, the resources are vetted coming in, they’re allocated to positions where they need to be, and will backfill as needed to support the whole operation.”

At round 7:30 p.m. – roughly 90 minutes into the incident – crews switched from rescue operations to restoration operations.

The 90-minute mark is taken into account the “gold standard for when a rescue can be made,” Santiago mentioned.

The preliminary divers have been unable to search out the teenager, however sonar technicians have been later capable of finding him and recuperate his physique at round 7:50 p.m., Santiago mentioned.

Santiago referred to as it a “tragedy.” No different accidents have been reported.

“This always hits home. These are members of our community. This is a great location to come bring your families, and that’s what they were just trying to do,” Santiago mentioned.

“We’re very sorry for your loss, and we did everything that we could possible,” Santiago added.

Police officers and firefighters have been seen consoling the boy’s members of the family and family members.

The Lake County Coroner’s Office responded to the scene to take possession of the boy.

Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner Steve Newton mentioned his workplace labored with the household to positively establish the recovered physique because the lacking baby. The boy was a resident of Round Lake.

An post-mortem is scheduled for Tuesday morning. The baby’s identification has not been launched but.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police is investigating the incident.