Sheriff’s Marine Unit Rescues Two Teens on Lake Michigan – Shaw Local

WAUKEGAN – Within a week of announcing the resumption of patrols on Lake Michigan, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit saved the lives of two teenage paddle boarders who had set out to sea.

On June 19 at approximately 1:30 p.m., the Sheriff’s Lake Michigan Watercraft Marine Unit was on patrol. Officers with the Marine Unit were on patrol about a mile from the shore of Lake Bluff when they observed two 16-year-olds, a girl from Lake Bluff and a boy from Wauconda, both drifting on a paddleboard toward the middle of Lake Michigan, a news release said. The teens were unable to overcome the wind and current of the lake, which kept pulling them farther from the shore.

The teens were not wearing life jackets and did not have phones or other communication or emergency devices with them, the press release said. Marine officers pulled them from the lake and were also able to recover their paddleboards.

The teenagers were unharmed and were safely reunited with their families at Lake Forest Marina.

“That’s what this Lake Michigan Sheriff’s Patrol Boat is all about – saving lives,” Lake County Sheriff John D. Idleburg said in the release. “I’m so thankful we were able to replace our previous Lake Michigan boat, which was retired in 2018. This allowed our Marine Unit officers to save two young lives within a week of resuming patrols.”