Search and rescue personnel in northwest Indiana on Thursday recovered the body of a Twin Cities teenager who went missing while swimming in Lake Michigan two days ago with family members, officials said.
ID released of Eagan teen whose body recovered in Lake Michigan miles from where he was with family
His father and a brother were rescued, Indiana DNR officials said.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
August 9, 2024 at 11:55AM
The 17-year-old boy from Eagan was pulled from the water shortly before 8 a.m., according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The recovery was made roughly 6 miles west of where he was last seen in the lake near Kimel Beach, said conservation officer Alex Neel.
Neel said the teenager was swimming with a brother and their father.
The Porter County Coroner’s Office identified the teenager as Max Moras Loeza.
The first indication of trouble came shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday when a caller to 911 in Porter County, reported several swimmers in distress in Beverly Shores, said DNR spokesman Marty Benson.
Emergency responders arrived and found two swimmers needing help on shore and a bystander who came to the pair’s rescue, a DNR statement read.
An ambulance transported the three from the scene in stable condition, the agency said.
However, until his recovery, Moras Loeza was last spotted about 300 feet from shore, according to the DNR.
“Rescue personnel attempted to enter the water to search but were hindered by large waves,” the DNR statement read.
A shore-based search was launched in concert with the use of drones as vessels from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office marine unit assisted in the offshore operation.
A mediation program in the planning stages, in collaboration with the NAACP, would aim address neighborhood disputes.
