Search for boy resumes at lakeshore
By Christin Nance Lazerus and Teresa Auch Schultz Sun-Times Media July 9, 2012 7:12PM
A U.S. Park Ranger boat patrols the waters offshore as rescue efforts continue the search for a missing 15-year-old swimmer at Portage Lakefront & Riverwalk in Portage, Ind. Monday July 9, 2012. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media
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Maps
Updated: August 11, 2012 6:25AM
Emergency crews searched unsuccessfully Monday for a missing 15-year-old boy who went under the water while on a sand bar in Lake Michigan near Portage Sunday afternoon.
Portage resident Corey McFry was swimming about 200 yards out in the water around 5:30 p.m. along with three friends, according to Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Gene Davis.
McFry was standing on a sand bar when he either stepped off it or was knocked off by 4-foot waves. He went under, and his friends could not find him. A female friend swam back to shore to get some help.
Many of the beaches on the south shore of Lake Michigan were under a rip current advisory on Sunday. The Portage Lakefront Beach has a permanent sign warning of the dangers of rip currents, which are powerful channels of water flowing quickly away from the shore. They occur most often at low spots or breaks in the sandbar and near groins, jetties and piers.
Bruce Rowe, a park ranger spokesman for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, said that the Coast Guard had a boat and helicopter searching for the boy, the DNR used its boat, and the Lake County Sheriff’s Department was out in its helicopter. Divers from Portage, Burns Harbor, Ogden Dunes, Chesterton, Porter, Chesterton and South Haven also aided in the search.
McFry’s family kept vigil at the park on Monday in the hopes that his body would be recovered.
