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Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
National
David Struett

19-year-old pregnant Chicago woman found in Lake Michigan was stabbed to death, police say

A sketch of an unidentified woman pulled from Lake Michigan on Aug. 15. | Lake County sheriff’s office

Investigators say a pregnant woman found floating in Lake Michigan earlier this month had been stabbed to death.

Tips sent to police suggest she was a 19-year-old woman reported missing from Chicago, according to the Lake County sheriff’s office. Police are awaiting further test results to confirm her identity.

An autopsy showed the woman had multiple stab wounds, the sheriff’s office said. Police were conducting a homicide investigation.

The woman, who was about six-months pregnant, was spotted by a fisherman Aug. 15 floating in the water three miles southeast of the Waukegan Harbor.

She was likely in the water for seven to 12 days, the sheriff’s office said. She possibly entered the water anywhere from the northern Indiana shoreline to the northern Illinois shoreline of Lake Michigan.

The body of a man recovered around the same time was identified as Martin Mendoza, 49, of Waukesha, Wisconsin. He drowned near the 63rd Street Harbor in Chicago on Aug. 8.

Authorities said his drowning is not related to the death of the woman.

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