Teen Missing in Lake MI Attended Grayslake North

WAUKEGAN, IL — The 16-year-old boy who jumped into Lake Michigan last week to try and save a friend was a Grayslake North High School student. The teen, whose body has not yet been recovered from the icy waters of Lake Michigan, had been walking with two other teens when one fell into the water near the Stiner Music Pavilion at about 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 18.

Grayslake North Superintendent Mikkel Storaasli told the Lake County News-Sun that counselors were on hand this past week to help anyone who needed extra support as the high school grieved the death of the 16-year-old boy, who is presumed to have drowned. The teen's name has not yet been released.

“There is a memorial that has been set up by the students,”Storaasl said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the search continues for the boy's body.

Authorities were forced to call of the search for the teen on Tuesday through Thursday due to ice buildup off the Waukegan Municipal Beach, Steve Lenzi, Waukegan Fire Department spokesman, told the Lake County News-Sun. Search crews were going to try and use sonar equipment Friday morning to locate the boy but that effort was also dependent on the weather.

“Right now, it looks like we will be able to do it, but if the wind keeps picking up, it can cause the ice that is forming now to break up,” Lenzi told the newspaper on Thursday. “We really want to get it done so the family has closure.”

The friend the teen jumped into the water to save was first taken to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan and then transferred to a Wisconsin Hospital, fire officials told the Lake County News-Sun. A condition update was not immediately available.

Patch reached out to the Waukegan Fire Department for more information but had not heard back as of mid-afternoon on Friday.

More via the Lake County News-Sun

PHOTO VIA SHUTTERSTOCK