22-Year-Old Pulled From Lake Michigan Near Belmont Pronounced Dead, Autopsy Pending

A 22-year-old man was pronounced dead Wednesday morning after being pulled from Lake Michigan near Belmont Avenue in Lakeview, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Officers responded to the 300 block of West Belmont Avenue just before 10:20 a.m., where the man was recovered from the water. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Area Three detectives are handling the death investigation. Police said the cause of death is pending autopsy results, and it was not immediately clear how the man ended up in the lake.

Video from the scene showed a stretch of the lakefront trail near Belmont Harbor blocked off with police tape around 11 a.m. as officers worked the area. The stretch of shoreline near the harbor draws heavy foot and bike traffic on the trail that runs the length of the city's lakefront, and the harbor itself is a popular spot for boaters, joggers and people fishing off the rocks.

Police have not released the man's identity, and no further details about the circumstances leading up to his death have been made public. Investigators have not said whether he was alone at the time or whether anyone witnessed him enter the water. They also have not said whether foul play is suspected. As of Wednesday afternoon, police described the matter only as a death investigation pending the medical examiner's findings.

The Belmont Avenue stretch of the lakefront sits just east of Lake Shore Drive, near Belmont Harbor and the row of rocks and piers that line that section of shoreline. The area is popular with swimmers, especially in the warmer months, even though much of Chicago's lakefront outside designated beaches is not an official swimming area and carries risks from currents, rocky breakwaters and sudden drop-offs.

Wednesday's incident is the latest in a string of water recoveries reported around the Chicago area in recent weeks. Bodies have also turned up recently in the Chicago River near a South Side Amazon facility and along the Des Plaines River in the north suburbs, and two kayakers from the Chicago area were found dead off a Wisconsin island in Lake Michigan earlier this month. Chicago police and fire crews respond to water rescue and recovery calls throughout the summer and into early fall, when temperatures remain warm enough to draw people into the lake even as the water itself stays cold and currents can be unpredictable, particularly near harbors, piers and rocky breakwalls like those near Belmont.

The Chicago Park District and the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications have in past years urged people to avoid swimming outside of designated, lifeguarded beach areas, citing the risk of rip currents and sudden depth changes close to shore. Belmont Harbor itself is not a designated swimming beach; the nearest lifeguarded beaches are Belmont Rocks and North Avenue Beach to the north and south.

No additional details were released about what prompted the initial 911 call or how long the man may have been in the water before he was found. Police did not say whether he was pulled from the water by first responders, bystanders, or a combination of both, and the department's Marine Unit was not specifically identified in the initial report as having been involved in the recovery.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office typically conducts autopsies within days of a death and releases findings once toxicology and other testing are complete, a process that can take several weeks depending on the case. Until that report is finalized, the manner and cause of the man's death will remain officially undetermined, even though he was declared dead at the scene by first responders Wednesday morning.

Area Three detectives, who cover much of the North Side including Lakeview, are continuing to investigate. Police have not said whether they are seeking witnesses or reviewing surveillance footage from the lakefront trail or nearby businesses along Belmont Avenue. No tip line has been released for anyone with information about the incident.

The stretch of West Belmont Avenue near the lake reopened to normal foot and bike traffic later Wednesday after police tape came down, though police did not say exactly when. The Chicago Police Department has not indicated whether it will release further updates before the medical examiner's office completes its autopsy and determines an official cause and manner of death.