Aug. 01--Indiana conservation officials are searching for a 20-year-old Illinois woman in Lake Michigan who went swimming off an Indiana beach and has not yet surfaced.
Chase Froese, of Carol Stream, disappeared Friday evening while swimming off Porter Beach, said Tyler Brock, an Indiana Department of Natural Resources representative. Conservation officers and other emergency personnel responded to the Porter Beach area shortly after 7 p.m. to assist Froese and her two female friends who were struggling in the water and unable to return to shore.
Nearby beachgoers were able to rescue the two other swimmers, also from Illinois, and bring them safely to shore, but Froese disappeared from sight, Brock said.
Because of the direction of the water current and weather conditions, conservation officers are concentrating their search in front of Indiana Dunes State Park, Brock said. Conservation officers suspended their search late Friday evening and continued Saturday morning, while the Porter Fire Department conducted a shore-based search through the early morning hours.
Brock said conservation officers are continuing a surface search by boat Saturday. If water conditions allow, officers will conduct a sub-surface search using a remote-operated vehicle with sonar technology and video capabilities, he said.
The U.S. Coast Guard is conducting an air search with a helicopter, and the Porter Fire Department's Dive Rescue Team has employed a diver to assist with the surface search as well, he said.
