Body Recovered From Joliet Canal Was Missing Teen

JOLIET, IL — The body found floating in the water south of Joliet on Saturday morning was Diego "DJ" Santiago Jr., a 17-year-old teenager from Chicago whose father reported him missing back in November, the Will County Coroner's Office announced.

Romeoville Patch first reported on the disappearance of Diego Santiago Jr. Diego had been missing since Monday, Nov. 18, after last being seen in the Joliet area.

On Saturday, the Will County Coroner's Office identified Diego Santiago Jr. He was pronounced dead around 10 a.m., the coroner's staff indicated. The preliminary cause of death is drowning, the coroner's office announced on Sunday.

A barge company notified authorities around 8:50 a.m. Saturday that there was a dead body floating in the Des Plaines River canal in the 700 block of Route 6. The area was south of the McDonough Street Bridge and the Ozinga concrete company.

Joliet Fire Chief Greg Blaskey told Patch that fire company 1 responded to the scene and firefighters used their boat to retrieve the body from the water. The body was found along the concrete wall, Blaskey said.

The body was turned over to the Will County Coroner's Office, and the Joliet Police Department is now investigating the death, Blaskey said.

"Obviously, now it's a police investigation into what happened," he said.

On Saturday evening, a GoFundMe account was established by a close family friend of the Santiago family. The fund is called "We Love You DJ."

"We lost this wonderful kid, Diego Santiago Jr, too soon! DJ was an amazing kid. A lovable child with a big heart. A genius teenager with unspeakable talents. And a beautiful soul taken too soon," wrote Jessica Correa, who organized the GoFundMe.