Suicide Suspected After Lincoln-Way East Students Find Body

FRANKFORT, IL — Students running in a forest preserve near Lincoln-Way East High School found a man's body in the Hickory Creek Preserve on Tuesday afternoon. Forest Preserve District of Will County Police responded to a call at the preserve at around 3:30 p.m. Police said a 48-year-old Mokena man was found dead of a suspected suicide.

The Will County Coroner's office said preliminary autopsy results indicated the man died as a result of hanging. He was pronounced dead at 4:59 p.m. Tuesday at the forest preserve.

Forest preserve police said the man's body was found in a remote area of the preserve where there is no public access, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Lincoln-Way High School District 210 spokeswoman Taryn Atwell said the students were running as part of an independent conditioning activity when the body was found. The students ran back to the Lincoln-Way East campus and notified school staff, who called police.

The Will County Sheriff’s Office and the Frankfort Fire Department also responded to the scene, according to forest preserve police.

Atwell said students were picked up by their parents shortly after making the discovery on Tuesday afternoon, and spoke with counselors after arriving at school Wednesday morning.