CHICAGO _ Friends of a boater who disappeared Monday, which prompted a search that left a Fire Department diver dead, located a man's body in the South Branch of the Chicago River after searching to find their friend, they said.
Someone in a boat spotted the body in the river west of Damen Avenue about 1:15 p.m. Friday and called 911, a law enforcement source confirmed. The police marine unit was dispatched to bring the body out of the water, a police spokesman said.
The body was found between the shore and a barge, according to the source.
Authorities were checking the body's clothing, which appeared to match that of Alberto Lopez, 28, who fell off a boat Monday night on the river near Ashland Avenue, prompting a search that left Fire Department diver Juan Bucio dead. The identity of the person whose body was found Friday had not yet been confirmed, but friends said they believe it to be Lopez.
After the accidents, Lopez's family and friends decided to look for his body on their own. The same boat that Lopez fell from had been used to search the waters for his body since Tuesday.
Focusing on where he fell, his friends found a body they believe to be his about 1 p.m. near the shore. They waited with the body for police to come.
A police spokeswoman said Friday morning that the Marine Unit was expected to continue the search for Lopez's body Friday, but Joel Gonzalez, a friend of Lopez's, said friends were told police were not continuing the search.
"We found him because they had canceled the search since yesterday or they weren't looking anymore," Gonzalez said in Spanish. "So we, along with a friend and his boat, have been looking since yesterday. So just now, we found him as we were getting into the water."
Police "told us yesterday they weren't going to keep searching for him. That's why we started searching for him for ourselves. We lost hope that they would keep searching."
After the body was found, "We were just waiting and waiting and waiting," said Ricardo Sanchez, another friend of Lopez's. They wanted to take the body themselves, but police wouldn't allow them.
When they found the body, "one part of me was sad and the other part thankful to God that we found him so we can send him to his family who is waiting to see him one last time," Gonzalez said.
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