Crews search Lake Michigan for two Chicago-area men who went missing while boating in Indiana waters

HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) — Rescue crews were searching Lake Michigan on Saturday for two men from suburban Chicago, more than a day after they went missing while a large group of people were boating along Indiana’s northwest coast, authorities said.

Strong winds and high waves were creating “very bad conditions” on the lake Saturday and were hampering search efforts, Indiana Conservation Officer Alex Neel said.

He said 12 people were on the boat Friday afternoon off Hammond, Indiana, when one man jumped into the lake to swim but began to struggle, prompting a second man to jump in to help him, only to find himself also struggling in the waters.

A third man put on a life jacket and entered the lake to try to help his two companions, but he also began to struggle before strong winds blew him and the other two men away from the boat, Neel said.

The nine other people on the boat didn’t know how to operate it, he said. They called 911 and also sent out flares. All nine were later rescued by conservation officers, who found the boat nearly 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) off the coast of Whiting, Indiana, and towed it to shore, Neel said.

Indiana conservation officers began searching for the three missing men around 2:40 p.m. Friday. Two hours later, the U.S. Coast Guard located the man wearing a life jacket in the lake. He was treated at a hospital and released.

One of the two missing men is from the northern Illinois community of Elk Grove Village, and the other man is from the nearby town of Mount Prospect, Neel said.

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