HAMMOND, Indiana — Crews searched Lake Michigan on Saturday for two men from the Chicago suburbs, more than a day after they disappeared while a large group of people were boating along the northwestern Indiana coastline, authorities said.
Indiana Conservation Officer Alex Neel said strong winds and high waves created “very poor conditions” on the lake Saturday, hampering the search.
He said there were 12 people on the boat Friday afternoon near Hammond, Indiana, when a man jumped into the lake to swim. The man began to struggle, so a second man jumped in to help him. He was also in the water and began to struggle.
A third man then donned a life jacket and went into the lake to help his two companions, but he also began to struggle before the strong winds carried him and the other two men from the boat, Neel said.
The nine other people on the boat didn’t know how to operate the vessel, he said. They called 911 and also shot off flares. All nine were later rescued by conservation officers, who found the boat nearly 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) from the shoreline of Whiting, Indiana, and towed it back to shore, Neel said.
Indiana conservation officers began searching for the three missing men at about 2:40 p.m. Friday. Two hours later, the U.S. Coast Guard found the man wearing a life jacket in the lake. He was treated at a hospital and released.
One of the two missing men is from the northern Illinois community of Elk Grove Village, and the other man is from the nearby village of Mount Prospect, Neel said.