May 25--A 46-year-old man drowned in an Antioch lake Sunday night when he jumped in the water to save a cat that he and his friends had taken canoeing, authorities said.
Three friends were in a canoe with the cat in about 35 feet of water, more than 200 feet from shore on Loon Lake in north suburban Lake County, said Lt. Chris Nixon of the Antioch Fire Department.
When the cat jumped into the water, one man went in after it, capsizing the canoe, with all three people ending up in the water, he said. A pontoon boat that was nearby saw the incident and immediately motored over, saving a man and a woman who were in the canoe as well as the cat, Nixon said.
The man who had initially jumped from the canoe did not resurface. Rescuers were called to the scene, near the north shore of Loon Lake, about 7:45 p.m. and recovered his body just after midnight, said Sgt. Sara Balmes of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Balmes said alcohol was a factor.
The victim's identity was being withheld pending an autopsy, authorities said.
An investigation of the incident was being conducted by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
