19-year-old drowns on family trip to Lake Michigan while beachgoers try to save him

A 19-year-old man drowned in Lake Michigan while swimming with his younger cousin, Indiana officials said.

The man and his cousin, a 14-year-old girl, were swimming at Porter Beach on June 19 when the pair began struggling to stay above water, Nicole Baumann, a conservation officer with the state department of natural resources, told McClatchy News.

“They went into an area where they were getting pulled into deeper water; they were in a rip current, and neither of them were strong swimmers,” Baumann said, adding that the waves were up to 4 feet high at the time.

A beachgoer ran into the water and rescued the struggling girl, who was closer to shore than the man, Baumann said.

At the time, it wasn’t clear that the man required assistance, Baumann said.

Shortly after, two other beachgoers entered the water to help him, but he was unresponsive when they pulled him from the lake.

CPR was performed on him at the scene, and he was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Baumann said.

The man’s name has not been released. Both he and his 14-year-old cousin are residents of Des Plaines, Illinois, Baumann said.

The incident remains under investigation by state conservation officers, according to a June 21 news release.

Porter Beach is about 50 miles southeast of Chicago.

This story was originally published June 21, 2023 at 2:55 PM with the headline "19-year-old drowns on family trip to Lake Michigan while beachgoers try to save him."