MICHIGAN CITY — Rip currents from high waves is believed to be the reason for a 13-year-old boy drowning in Lake Michigan.
The victim was identified by the LaPorte County Coroner’s office as Keegan Roberts of Michigan City.
An autopsy was conducted by a forensic pathologist Thursday morning at Franciscan Health hospital in Michigan City, Coroner Lynn Swanson said.
Swanson said she was still waiting for the results of the autopsy but anticipates cause of death will be ruled an accidental drowning.
Roberts was with a small group of friends entering the water late Monday afternoon from the beach at Washington Park, Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Alex Neel said, adding that 20 mph winds coming in from the north were whipping up four- to six-foot waves at the time.
The friends ventured into the water beside the Lighthouse Pier, and Roberts was in knee-deep water when rip currents created by the waves crashing into the large rocks along the pier apparently pulled the boy further out into the lake, Neel said.
A friend noticed Keegan struggling in the water and tried to save him but couldn’t reach him because of the rough conditions and the boy disappeared beneath the surface.
“When the waves kind of crash over, you get a pulling effect from the waves as they come out,” Neel said.
A search quickly followed but was discontinued a few hours later after four divers from the Michigan City Fire Department and DNR were injured from being slammed into the rocks by the large waves.
Neel said the injuries to the divers taken to the hospital were “relatively minor.”
Divers did not return to the water Tuesday because of continued choppy conditions that seemed to have slightly worsened.
Divers and a boat equipped with sonar to search the lake’s bottom returned Wednesday shortly after sunrise.
A diver found the body less than one hour later on the east side of the pier, where the boy was last seen.
Keegan’s body was in about 11 feet of water roughly 40 feet from the break wall.
The National Weather Service issued a small craft advisory and warning about hazardous beach conditions Monday prior to the drowning.
There were no lifeguards on duty at the time, Michigan City Fire Chief Barrett Taylor said.
Normally, he said, lifeguards work until about 5 p.m.
“When the lifeguards are gone,” he said, “you’re swimming at your own risk.”
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Rip currents drown teen at Michigan City’s Washington Park Beach
Reporting by Stan Maddux, Special to The Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Stan Maddux, Special to The Tribune | USA TODAY Network
