Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Illinois teen drowns at Dunes State Park

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An Illinois man drowned at Indiana Dunes State Park on Tuesday.

The Porter County Coroner’s Office has identified the victim as Dominic Snovicky, 18, of Plainfield.

Porter Fire Chief Jay Craig gave this account of events to the Chesterton Tribune. The PFD and other agencies responded to Dunes State Park at 10:58 a.m., after witnesses reported seeing a man struck by a wave and not resurfacing, off the west end of the beach. This occurred prior to the lifeguards’ going on duty for the day. “They were just walking out to their stands when this happened,” Craig said.

The PFD put its boat in the water and used a 15-foot ski rope to tow a Portage FD diver, who at 12:30 p.m. found Snovicky at the bottom, in about 10 feet of water, some 20 feet north of the swim buoys, Craig said. Live-saving measures were immediately commenced when Novicky was brought on board the boat and continued as he was transported to the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor and an awaiting ambulance. Novicky was subsequently pronounced dead at 2:12 p.m. at Porter Regional Hospital, the Coroner’s Office said.

Craig told the Tribune that the water was closed to swimming at the time of the incident and signs to that effect were posted in the parking lot and on the lifeguard stands.

Craig also noted that, though at the moment there’s a sandbar at the swim buoys--rising high enough in the water “that you can almost stand on it"--just outside the buoys the bottom of the lake drops off precipitously. “The divers were reporting a trough just past the buoys,” he said.

Also responding to the scene were the Chesterton, Burns Harbor, Crown Point, and Michigan City FDs, Craig added.

 

 

Posted 6/24/2020

 
 
 
 

 

 

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