A woman remains missing and a man is in serious condition after a vehicle carrying five people struck a barrier and drove into the Little Calumet River on Chicago's Far South Side. Three of the vehicle's occupants managed to reach land safely, while Chicago police say the woman has not been located since the crash in the 13000-block of South Indiana Avenue in West Pullman.
According to ABC7 Chicago, the vehicle lost control and drove into the Little Calumet River after striking a barrier. Chicago police say the Marine Unit rescued one man from the water, who was later transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center and listed in serious condition. Police say a search for the missing woman is ongoing, though her whereabouts remain unknown as of the report from ABC7 Chicago reporter Evelyn Holmes.
A Familiar and Dangerous Bend in the River
The stretch of South Indiana Avenue where it crosses the Little Calumet River sits on the border between West Pullman and Riverdale, an industrial corridor bounded by rail tracks and river channels, according to a Chicago Transit Authority planning document. That geography, marked by sharp turns and river bridges, has created a documented traffic safety hazard at this exact crossing.
This is not the first time a vehicle has gone into the water at 130th Street and Indiana Avenue. In February 2024, a stolen U-Haul truck fleeing police failed to navigate the curve there, crashing through a guardrail and into the river, drowning 34-year-old driver Larry Perry, per FOX 32 Chicago. Attorneys for Perry's family later announced plans to sue the Hammond Police Department over the pursuit that ended at the river bank, FOX 32 reported in May 2024. Years earlier, in July 2020, Chicago Police Marine Unit divers pulled a missing 26-year-old man's car with a body inside from the same stretch of river, four days after witnesses reported seeing a vehicle enter the water, according to CBS Chicago.
How Chicago Searches Its Waterways
Water emergencies in Chicago rivers typically require coordination between two separate agencies: the Chicago Police Department Marine Unit, which runs rescue vessels and patrols navigable water, and the Chicago Fire Department Scuba Team, which handles on-call diving for underwater search and recovery of submerged vehicles, per CBS Chicago. Meanwhile, the department's Major Accidents Investigation Unit typically handles the technical crash reconstruction in cases involving severe injuries or fatalities, while the 13000 block of South Indiana Avenue falls under the jurisdiction of the 5th District and Area 2 Detectives, who manage death inquiries and major crash investigations on the Far South Side, per prior West Pullman coverage from Hoodline.
The man pulled from the river was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, whose Level 1 Adult Trauma Center opened in May 2018 and restored high-level emergency trauma care to the Far South Side after the area went nearly 30 years without an adult trauma facility. It remains the region's closest option for critically injured patients from West Pullman and surrounding neighborhoods.
Part of a Wider Pattern of Vehicles in the Water
This crash comes just weeks after a car plunged off Streeterville into Lake Michigan on August 22, when three occupants managed to swim to shore before crews could complete a search. And it echoes a search earlier this year in nearby Lake Station, Indiana, where a vehicle went into the Deep River in March 2026 and slow currents, sediment, and submerged debris hampered sonar and dive recovery efforts for days. Whether similar riverbed conditions are complicating the search for the missing West Pullman woman has not been addressed by police.
It remains unclear whether speed or roadway conditions contributed to the vehicle losing control before it struck the barrier, and whether the missing woman may have been swept downstream by the river's current. It is also not known whether city or state transportation officials have evaluated guardrail safety or barrier reinforcement along this particular curve, despite its history of vehicles going into the water. Chicago police have not released further details on the search's progress or the identities of those involved.
