Efforts to find a missing swimmer in Lake Michigan near Highland Park have continued into Sunday, as emergency teams returned to the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve in Fort Sheridan. The operation restarted in the morning after an intensive search on Saturday ended without success. As per ABC 7 Chicago, the swimmer was last observed struggling in the water the previous day around noon.
The Highland Park Fire Department's Water Rescue Team had to temporarily suspend the search as of 6 p.m. Saturday evening, only to hopefully commence again at 8 a.m. Sunday. A member of the aforementioned dive team was reportedly, for a brief time, lost during Saturday's efforts but was fortunately found and unharmed. First responders are ready to call off the search by noon Sunday unless they are to make significant progress.
Witnesses at the scene described attempts by both fellow beachgoers and boaters to aid the swimmer in distress. According to WGN-TV, Peter Mordini, a local boater, said he came across a swimmer calling out that someone was underwater and dove in with scuba gear to search, but was thwarted by the lake's strong currents. "We were close. If we would’ve been here five minutes earlier, it would have been a different story," Mordini told WGN-TV.
Alongside physical attempts to locate the missing person, the Highland Park Police Department also launched a drone as part of the search strategy. The identity of the swimmer has still not been released, and city officials are asking members of the public to avoid the area around the ongoing search to prevent any further incidents. As the efforts continued into what is now a recovery mission, those involved hold on to what hope remains in spite of the odds.
