The body of a man pulled from a pond in Northwest Indiana Thursday afternoon has been identified as a 23-year-old father who disappeared after watching a May Chicago Blackhawks game.
Lake County Sheriff John Buncich confirmed the body is that of Michael Hernandez.
Family members gathered near the scene Thursday afternoon as a vehicle was pulled from a pond on Greenwood Avenue east of Indiana Avenue in Crown Point.
For nearly six weeks, authorities and loved ones have been searching for Hernandez, who was last seen at the Safe House Bar and Grill in Crown Point on May 1. Police said Hernandez left the bar in a Blue 2008 Scion Hatch, with Indiana license plate number 606LTI.
"I saw him get in his car. I got in my car. I backed out first. I left. That was it," Hernandez's friend, Jake Fleming, told NBC Chicago just a few days after the father of two twin daughters vanished.
The search for Hernandez moved to an area about 20 miles south of Crown Point about a week after he disappeared. Officials said they received a positive cell phone "ping" in the area from the man's cell phone, prompting roughly 120 volunteers to comb fields and wooded land near DeMotte.
