A member of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary was walking on the beach when he found the body of a 15-year-old Portage, Indiana boy who disappeared in rip currents while swimming.
The boy drowned on Sunday at the Portage Lakeshore Park, which borders the Ogden Dunes.
"Corey McFry was swimming with 3 friends in the 4 foot waves at the Portage Lakeshore Park when McFry either stepped off of the sandbar they were on or was knocked off the bar and went under the water," according to a news release issued late Sunday night. "Two of the friends continued to look for McFry while one friend went in to shore to call 911."
Lake Michigan in that area was under a rip current advisory at the time of the disappearance. No lifeguards were on duty there.
Jet skis and boats were used to look for McFry. Divers couldn't go into the lake since the water was so rough.
The Coast Guard searched through the night, stopping around 10 a.m. Monday morning.
“The Coast Guard suspends a search and rescue case with extremely great care and deliberation,” a Coast Guard spokesperson said in a release issued Monday morning. “Only after a probable search area is saturated with the appropriate assets and resources, and persons lost or in distress are still not located, a decision is made to suspend a case.”
Dean Christy found McFry's body around 4:45 Tuesday morning approximately a quarter of a mile from where he was last seen swimming on Sunday.
No autopsy is expected, according to the coroner's office.
Coast Guard safety advice
The Coast Guard offers these tips that swimmers should use to help them identify, avoid and escape rip currents:
Identify — Look for changes in water color; water motion; incoming wave shape or breaking point compared to adjacent conditions; channels of churning or choppy water; lines of foam, seaweed or debris moving seaward
Avoid — Check the latest National Weather Service forecast for local beach conditions before heading out; learn to swim; learn to swim in surf; never swim alone; swim near a lifeguard; look for posted signs and warning flags indicating hazards; check with lifeguards before swimming and obey their instructions; always assume rip currents are present; if in doubt, don’t go out
Escape — Remain calm to conserve energy; don’t fight the current; swim across the current parallel to the shoreline; when out of the current, swim an angle away from the current and toward shore; if you can’t escape, try to float or tread water until the current subsides then swim to shore; if you can’t reach shore, face the shore, wave your arms and yell for help to draw attention
Assist — Get help from a lifeguard or if one isn’t available, call 911; throw the victim something that floats — a life jacket, cooler, ball; yell instructions to escape; don’t become a victim trying to help someone else
