Search For Missing Kayaker Continues Along North Shore

LAKE FOREST, IL — The U.S. Coast Guard and local police and fire personnel Tuesday morning resumed a search for a Glenview man who went missing while kayaking in Lake Michigan Monday evening, according to Highland Park and Lake Forest police. Police said the missing kayaker and his companion, also a 20-year-old man, launched from Park Avenue Beach in Highland Park sometime around 5 p.m. but their kayaks filled with water and capsized in rough waters.

Sebastian Duncan, 20, was identified as the missing kayaker, according to a release from Highland Park.

Residents began calling 911 around 10:30 p.m. after his companion managed to swim to shore in Lake Forest, police said. He was able to climb up a bluff on the south end of the city and began knocking on doors and shouting for help.

Responding officers learned Duncan was still missing and notified marine rescuers.

A Coast Guard boat launched from Wilmette, a helicopter was dispatched from Michigan around 11 p.m., authorities said. Water units from Highland Park and Lake Forest assisted in the search, according to Coast Guard Master Chief Alan Haraf.

Search efforts continued until about 2 a.m., when the Guard recommended suspending operations due to worsening weather, according to Haraf and city officials.

The two men had brought along fishing gear but no life jackets, according to Lake Forest Police Deputy Chief Rob Copeland. The survivor reported the pair became separated on the in rough water after their kayaks filled with water and sank, he said.

The search area included nearly four miles of coastline north from Park Avenue beach, and local police and fire personnel will continue to search along the beachfront on foot, Highland Park city officials said. Other lakefront municipalities have been alerted.

The search area extended over about 130 square miles along Lake Michigan, according to the release.

Earlier, a Coast Guard official identified the missing kayaker as an Northwestern University student. However, Highland Park city officials said neither student was a Northwestern student.

Coast Guard rescue operations were suspended around 2 p.m. Tuesday, WGN reported.

The head of the yacht club from where the kayakers are believed to have departed told Pioneer Press that experienced boaters at the launch site warned two young men against heading, urging them not to go out in without life jackets around 5 p.m.

UPDATE: Family of Missing Kayaker Sebastian Duncan Releases Statement

HPFD Rescue Boat is in the water: Search for missing kayaker to resume. @ABC7Chicago pic.twitter.com/pvRwrnlVQs
— DIANE PATHIEU (@pathieuabc7) August 28, 2018