Final search concludes for teen missing in Lake Michigan near Illinois Beach State Park

The Search for a Missing Teen in Lake Michigan Comes to an End

The search for a 14-year-old boy who went missing in Lake Michigan near Illinois Beach State Park has officially ended. The Lake County Sheriff's Office, Coast Guard, and Illinois Department of Natural Resources all played a role in the extensive search efforts. The teen was last seen in the water around 5 p.m. on Tuesday. While his exact origin has not been disclosed, he is believed to be from Wisconsin.

Dive teams and rescue boats worked tirelessly throughout the day, but as the sun set, they were forced to halt their search. "We were in the water within two minutes of arriving on scene, and they had a good last-seen point of him from the family and bystanders," said Beach Park Fire Chief Tom Stahl. "We just couldn't find him then."

The search resumed the following day, with crews focusing on an area south of the state park. "We've searched up and down this numerous times with sonar, still were unable to find him," Stahl explained. "We have rescue swimmers, again searching the rock areas. We had drones flying both days trying to find him."

On Wednesday afternoon, officials announced that they would no longer continue the search for the boy’s body. They do not believe it will be found. It is suspected that the teen may have been caught in a rip current. "It's dangerous. People have to be aware of it otherwise we're going to keep having accidents happen," said resident Ken Japuntich.

Fire officials described the difficulty of informing the family that they could not locate their son. "I don't think the people yesterday had any intention of what's going to happen to them like that. It's shallow water. Still, something bad happened to him," Stahl said.

This incident follows another tragic event in June when a 20-year-old man died after being pulled from the water at Illinois Beach State Park. Fire officials have since expressed concerns about the lack of proper equipment for some rescues and have called for the presence of lifeguards.

David Benjamin, with the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, believes the break walls—also known as rock walls—installed in the water at Illinois Beach State Park can contribute to the formation of rip currents. "These rock walls were installed, $73 million, and nothing went toward supporting water rescue or lifeguards. This beach really must have lifeguards," he said.

Despite large signs stating, "no lifeguards on duty" and "swim at your own risk," Benjamin argues that these warnings are insufficient. "This is going to continue year after year," he said. "We're going to have preventable tragedies as long as we don't have lifeguards there."

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources confirmed that construction on the break walls began in 2023 and was completed last year. "They've been working on them for a while," Japuntich said. "They got them in there to protect the beaches, but I guess obviously they forgot about the safety of the people."

Benjamin emphasized that lifeguards should have been part of the budget when the break walls were installed. "If someone is actively drowning, they're going to submerge in less than a minute. So can you call 911 and pinpoint your location, and then they dispatch, and they arrive?" he questioned. "They're arriving 10, 15 minutes after the point of submersion, which is now a body recovery."

First responders have decided to wait for the teenage boy's body to resurface rather than continuing the search. This decision highlights the ongoing challenges and risks associated with water safety at Illinois Beach State Park.