Portage drowning victim found on Ogden Dunes shore
Post-Tribune staff report July 10, 2012 8:46AM
Corey McFry, 15 of Portage. | Provided Photo~Sun-Times Media ptmet
Updated: August 12, 2012 6:21AM
The body of 15-year-old Corey McFry was recovered at 4:45 a.m. Tuesday along the shore of Ogden Dunes on Lake Michigan. The body was located about a quarter of a mile from where he was last seen swimming on Sunday at Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk beach.
Dean Christy, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, was walking the beach when he found the body. The Ogden Dunes fire and police departments were called along with Indiana Conservation Officer Bryce Klimek and Portage and fire crews.
McFry, of Portage, was swimming about 200 yards out in the water with three friends Sunday afternoon when he stepped off, or was knocked off, a sandbar by 4-foot waves.
McFry disappeared under the water, while his friends searched frantically for him.
Many area beaches were under a rip current advisory Sunday and the Portage Lakefront beach has a permanent sign warning swimmers of rip currents. The beach is not guarded.
The DNR, Coast Guard, Lake County Sheriff’s Department and divers from Portage, Burns Harbor, Ogden Dunes, Chesterton, South Haven, and Porter assisted in the search that stretched from the Portage breakwall to about a half-mile west.
McFry’s family maintained a vigil at the beach Monday.
The body was removed by the Porter County Coroner’s office.
No autopsy was expected according to the coroners office, said Gene Davis, conservation officer for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Arrangements are pending at Pruzin Funeral Home in Portage.
