Authorities this afternoon resumed efforts to recover the body of a man missing in Lake Michigan since Saturday night.
The man, identified by his relatives as James Garcia, 51, of west suburban Berkeley, was reported missing near Oak Street Beach, and after a rescue attempt by fire and police, the incident has turned into a recovery mission, officials said.
The search was suspended at about 1 a.m. and resumed at about 7 a.m. in the lake between Walton Street on the north and Ontario Street to the south, police said. It was suspended again in the early afternoon due to low visibility in the water; divers and search boats were back in the water at about 4 p.m. to resume the recovery, police said.
Garcia's daughter Jillian Alvarez, 31, said she was in Las Vegas on vacation when she got the call at about 2 a.m. of her father's disappearance. She flew back to Chicago immediately, she said.
On Saturday her father had been in Melrose Park for a celebration of his niece's husband's birthday, but Alvarez didn't know why he was in Chicago and she and her brother were still trying to piece together what happened Saturday night.
Police said the initial call of people in the water came at about 9:37 p.m. Saturday and that family members with Garcia attempted to save him after he went into the water, but weren’t able to hold on. A police marine unit boat was also located him about a half-hour after he had been under water for about half an hour, but couldn’t recover the body because the waves were too high, police said.
The fire department took the woman to Northwestern hospital in good-to-fair condition, Chicago Fire Department Spokesman Will Knight.
During the rescue attempt a group of five men and women who appeared to be connected to the Garcia declined comment but were visibly upset. As the rescue attempt turned to a recovery search, those people were escorted away in police vehicles.
Alvarez said Garcia was a machine operator for a local company for more than 30 years, was divorced and had two adult childen and a 4-year-old granddaughter.
He enjoyed spending time at Montrose Harbor "to clear his mind & meet new people," Garcia's daughter said. Garcia also was an avid bike-rider and played the lottery nearly every day.
"He thought he was going to win one day," Alvarez said.
