An Illinois man drowned after the boat he was fishing in capsized Friday morning near East Chicago in Lake Michigan.
Indiana Conservation Officers and the Lake County Sheriff’s Marine and Aviation units were sent out around 1:30 p.m. on a report that a boat had flipped over near Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor, according to a Sheriff’s department news release.
The boat was about 1 mile offshore when the Aviation Unit arrived.
One of the men — Steve Vandervelde of Oak Forest, Illinois — was pulled into a nearby boat by good Samaritan and transported to an area hospital, according to an Indiana Department of Natural Resources news release.
The second man — 73-year-old Thomas Barragan, also of Oak Forest — was initially unaccounted for but was found dead in the water. Barragan’s body was recovered by an Indiana conservation officer diver at 3:20 p.m., the DNR confirmed.
Investigators believe the men went fishing earlier in the morning when the boat capsized, possibly due to strong winds and high waves that created a hazardous situation for small watercraft on the lake. Response and search efforts also were hindered by the weather conditions and a water temperature of 37 degrees.
Other agencies that assisted included the United States Coast Guard, Hammond Fire Department, East Chicago Fire Department, Hobart Fire Department, Hammond Police Department, Whiting Police Department and Hammond Port Authority.
