A missing boater who was feared to have drowned is OK, but authorities now may charge him with a crime for wasting their time.
The Fox Lake Fire Department received a call around 10:45 p.m. Wednesday night about a man in his 20s who went underwater after being on a paddle boat in the Nippersink Lake. Divers searched for the man until about 5 a.m., but were not able to find him.
Rescuers resumed their search at 8 a.m., but called it off shortly after noon when they received word that the man was OK, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The entire incident may have stemmed from a domestic dispute.
The search included several boats and nearly three dozen divers from multiple departments at a cost of thousands of dollars.
"It’s a relief nobody’s dead," Battalion Chief Tom Preidis said, according to the Tribune. "It’s frustrating to find out you’re out here wasting your time and energy."
