Body Found Floating Under Viaduct

Driver in stranded vehicle didn''t see body right next to him

An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday for on a body found floating in floodwater under Southwest Side viaduct early Saturday.

Martin Garcia, 46, of an unidentified home address, was found dead at 2500 W. 21st St. around 2:40 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Garcia was found with head trauma floating in water under a viaduct, a medial examiner’s office spokesman said.

It was not immediately known if Garcia drowned.

A responding police officer spoke with a witness, who said he was stranded in his vehicle under the flooded viaduct for several hours when passersby said there was a body floating in the water under his vehicle, according to a police report.

The stranded man couldn't see anything because he was unwilling to get out of the vehicle, according to the report.

Police and the fire department were notified, and responding firefighters discovered the body behind the stranded motorists vehicle -- face up with injuries above the right eye and to the top of the head, the report said.

Intense storms Friday night into early Saturday flooded about 25 viaducts citywide, blocked portions of nearly 150 streets and flooded more than 1,300 basements, Water Commissioner Thomas Powers said.

Officials couldn’t say if Garcia's death was related to the storms.

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