GoFundMe Started For Family Of Woman Swept Into DuPage River

WINFIELD, IL — A GoFundMe has been started to aid the family of Anna DeJong, an 18-year-old woman who was swept into the DuPage River while walking her dogs Friday evening after heavy rain. The GoFundMe was started by Terri Kraus, a friend of the woman's father, Dave DeJong.

Kraus told Patch DeJong's family is "just devastated."

"She's a lovely girl," Kraus added of Anna, who she said is still in high school.

"[Dave DeJong] is a single dad trying to raise his daughters and it’s just a sad story," Kraus said.

According to the Kraus, Dave DeJong runs a photography business that has been "all but decimated by the COVID-19 lockdown order." DeJong has another daughter, Kathryn, who has had a brain tumor on her hypothalmus since age three, Kraus told Patch, adding that it "has been a long, costly journey."

Anna DeJong was crossing a flooded pedestrian bridge when she was swept into the river Friday. Rescue crews deployed divers, drones and helicopters to search the river Friday and Saturday before calling off the search Saturday night.

Search Concludes For Woman Swept Into DuPage River In Winfield

DuPage County Forest Preserve officials said recovery efforts would begin once the waters of the DuPage River have receded.

Winfield Fire Protection District Fire Chief Steve Evans told Patch Tuesday that the Winfield Fire Protection District was joined by members of the DuPage County Forest Preserve and the West Chicago Fire Protection District in searching the area. Evans said watercraft, drones, and swift water personnel were deployed.

The GoFundMe for DeJong has had thousands of shares so far and has raised more than $33,000 at press time. "I can't even believe it," Kraus said of the outpouring of support that has come in the wake of Anna's disappearance.

Click the link to donate to the GoFundMe for Anna DeJong's family.

Patch is a GoFundMe promotional partner.