A body was recovered in Lake Michigan near Diversey Harbor early Tuesday evening, close to where missing 25-year-old Northwestern doctoral student Peter Salvino's phone was last pinged before he went missing early Sunday morning.
Chicago police confirmed shortly after 6 p.m. that a body was recovered in Diversey Harbor, but could not confirm the identity of the individual found.
Salvino was last seen late Saturday night after leaving a party in Lincoln Park in the 2400 block of North Geneva Terrace, last making contact with a friend through FaceTime while walking back to his apartment at around 12:15 a.m.
In a statement, a family spokesperson explained Salvino talked to a friend via FaceTime 11:59 p.m. and said that he was walking to his apartment in the 800 block of West Lill Avenue and was about a half-mile away. That friend called again at 12:15 a.m. to confirm that Salvino had arrived home, but the 25-year-old said he was still walking to his residence.
At 12:31 a.m., Salvino's phone pinged a location near Diversey Harbor, the family spokesperson said. Then, at 12:37 a.m., the friend called again to confirm Salvino had gotten home, but the call went unanswered. Several friends sent text messages to his phone between then and 9:30 a.m., the spokesperson said, adding the messages were successfully delivered to his phone but unanswered.
At approximately 9:45 a.m., all calls went straight to voicemail and all text messages went undelivered.
The man's family and friends have been asking for the public's help in recent days to check nearby surveillance footage in hopes of retracing his steps.
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"The goal is to get camera footage," said Scotty Gruska, Salvino's brother-in-law. "We've not heard from him since midnight Saturday. We all miss him. I know there's people working on it, and law enforcement is doing everything they can. But we want to keep doing more."
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Surveillance video from Lincoln Park restaurant The Weiner Circle also provided footage of Salvino inside the eatery Saturday night, before he went missing.
Salvino, who is approximately 6 feet tall, was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and maroon pants at the time of his disappearance. The above photo of Salvino was taken the night he disappeared, as was the following photo:
Anyone with information or surveillance footage is asked to contact the Area Three Special Victims Unit at 312-744-8266.