Cook County Commissioner Calls For Investigation Into Search For Teen Who Jumped Into Des Plaines River

OAK PARK, IL — Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin is calling for an investigation into why it took five days to find the body of 16-year-old Cameron Sanders, who jumped into the Des Plaines River last week. In a news conference Saturday, Boykin that he spoke with the family and “the information that they shared with me about the recovery of Cameron’s body was very disturbing.”

The body of Cameron Sanders, 16, was recovered Thursday in the Des Plaines River, nearly a week after he jumped from Rainbow Bridge with his friends. Cameron’s body was found just 150 feet from Rainbow Bridge, which has spurred many to question why search efforts took so long to locate him. Boykin said, “It should not take this long to find an individual’s body. We must get to the bottom of it and that’s why we’ve asked for the Inspector General to conduct this investigation.”

The initial search for Cameron Sanders was halted Sunday evening. After that, community organizer Anthony Clark and Robert Larson, who located the body of 1-year old Bryeon Hunter four years ago, headed up an independent search with the help of several volunteers. Cook County Commissioner Tom Dart had announced that the Cook County Sheriff’s Office would take over the search just a half hour before the volunteer efforts were slated to begin. When Patch covered the initial community search for Sanders, there was no sign of police involvement.

On Monday, Jerika Sanders, 19, of Villa Park, who is Cameron’s sister, told Patch not to “let the police tell you they are out here looking.” Patch spoke with Robert Larson after Sanders’ body was found and Larson said he only saw a handful of Cook County Sheriff’s officers searching the river banks for Sanders at times. However, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart told Chicago Tribune Thursday that the search for Sanders “included 200 officers from the Cook County Sheriff’s office.”

Boykin speculated that there may have been problems due to the jurisdiction of the area where Sanders jumped into the water. The bridge is the property of Canadian National Railway and is located in an unincorporated part of Cook County. Officials are urging the railway to put up signage discouraging kids from playing in the area. During Saturday’s news conference, Boykin said of five-day long search efforts, “It seemed like nobody was really in charge.”

>>Image via Commissioner Richard Boykin's Facebook Page