Authorities identified two bodies pulled from a submerged vehicle Tuesday morning in Lake Michigan as two men who went missing over the weekend.
The men were identified as Joseph Ramos, 22, and Antonio Lemon, 21, according to Cook County medical examiner’s office spokeswoman Natalia Derevyanny.
Chicago police said the pair went missing early Sunday after leaving a nightclub in River North.
About 3:15 a.m. Tuesday, detectives tracked a pinging cellphone to the harbor near the 100 block of North Lake Shore Drive, police said. Camera footage in the area showed a vehicle driving into Lake Michigan.
Family waited anxiously Tuesday morning as the police divers worked to pull their bodies from the vehicle submerged underwater.
“I don’t want it to be them,” Ramos’ aunt and godmother, Elizabeth Bautista, said tearfully. “But we want to know where they are, we’re worried sick. There’s a knot in our throat, it feels like it’s choking us.”
Police pulled their bodies from the water by 9:15 a.m., and towed the vehicle from the water about an hour later, police said.
“There’s a lot of people who love [Joey] and are missing him,” Bautista said. “He has a heart of gold.”
The medical examiner’s office has scheduled autopsies.
