Coroner IDs Man Who Drowned In Fox River During Fireworks Show

ELGIN, IL – A 35-year-old man who died after going into the Fox River in Elgin during a Fourth of July fireworks show has been identified as Eric Elam of Elgin, the Kane County Coroner said Saturday. A preliminary cause of death ruling shows Elam, whose body was found on Thursday afternoon, drowned. Toxicology samples have been sent to a forensic lab for analysis.

Fire Chief Dave Schmidt told the Elgin Courier-News that at least six people told authorities they saw the man go under water near the National Street bridge at about 10:25 p.m. on Wednesday/ Those witnesses said they did not see him resurface at all during the fireworks show, which started at about 10:20 p.m. in Elgin.

Elgin Fire Battalion Tim Michaels told the Daily Herald the man, waded into the river and appeared to stumble before going under water.

"(People) were yelling at this guy, 'Get out, what are you doing?'" Michaels said. "The river is very high and swollen, and the water is moving very quickly."

Several area fire departments, boats and divers aided in Wednesday night's search.

Dive teams from area agencies provided sonar equipment, which proved unhelpful due to the amount of debris in the fast-moving river, Schmidt told the newspaper. Typically, after 90 minutes of searching authorities switch from a rescue effort to body recovery search.

The search was called off at about 3 a.m. and resumed again at 9 a.m. and the man's body was found at about 1 p.m., according to media reports.

The Kane County Coroner’s Office is cooperating with the Elgin Police Department in their ongoing investigation of this incident.

More via the Elgin Courier-News

Photo via Shutterstock