Waukegan

Days After Waukegan Police End Search For Missing US Navy Sailor, NCIS Investigates Possible Lead

Séamus Gray, 21, was last seen in the early morning hours of March 18 in Waukegan

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Five days after the Waukegan Police Department announced it was ending its "exhaustive" search for Séamus Gray, a missing 21-year-old United States Navy servicemember, officials with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) released an update regarding a potential lead.

"On March 27, 2023, members of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), along with search and rescue canines, conducted a search for Séamus Gray in the Waukegan Harbor," an emailed update read, adding that three search and rescue canines showed "interest in an area by the Government Pier."

"Waukegan Fire Department and Gurnee Fire Department divers searched a large area around the Government Pier in the harbor but did not locate Séamus," the update continued. "Additionally, a surface swimmer searched an area around the Waukegan Yacht Club but was unable to locate Séamus."

The update concluded by saying that more information will be released "as the investigation continues and as more leads develop."

Last week, Waukegan Police Cmdr. Scott Chastain announced that the department was ending its multi-day search for the sailor, saying, "We've hit everything we can on land, in the air, and along the coast."

According to Chastain, the search spanned the area from Waukegan, to North Chicago, to the Naval Station Great Lakes. It included heavily wooded areas, train tracks, beaches, areas near the lakefront and the lakefront itself.

"If somebody does go into water, they're not coming up right away," Chastain said during a press conference, adding that drones, canines, the Unites States Coast Guard and Naval Intelligence had all assisted with the search.

Chastain also said that while the police department's search was coming to an end, an investigation would continue, and any new leads would determine whether or not a search would pick back up.

"Everybody is a little downhearted that we weren't able to find him, and put some kind of closure to this," Chastain said. "If we develop any other leads, we definitely will be coming back out, if that's what our leads takes us. We're not going to stop our efforts in our investigation."

Disappearance Timeline

According to authorities, Séamus Gray, a sailor stationed at the Naval Station Great Lakes, was last seen around 1:35 a.m. Saturday leaving Ibiza Nightclub, located at 17 N. Genesee St. in Waukegan, about 40 miles north of Chicago.

Gray's disappearance was first noted when he didn't report back to the Naval Station Great Lakes base at his scheduled 2 a.m. time Saturday, officials said.

However, it wasn't until 2 p.m. Tuesday that Waukegan police say they were notified of Gray's disappearance.

"It wasn't until some days later that they had some information that they uncovered that determined that he was in fact in Waukegan the early morning hours of [March 18]," Waukegan Deputy Chief Brian Mullen said during an update last Thursday.

Once Waukegan police did learn of Gray's disappearance, Mullen said they "jumped into action almost immediately" and began a search of areas where he was last seen.

What Surveillance Video Shows

Newly released surveillance video from outside the bar where Seamus Gray, 21, went missing, shows Gray just before 2 a.m. standing and talking to a group of people. At one point in the video, Gray is seen on the ground. At another point, someone in the group appears to take Gray's wallet from his pocket, but then throws it back at him. Later in the video, Gray is seen taking off down a nearby alley.

Security footage from outside Ibiza nightclub shows Gray just before 2 a.m. standing and talking to a group of people. At one point in the video, Gray is seen on the ground. At another point, someone in the group appears to grab the wallet from Gray's pocket, but then throws it back at him.

Later in the video, Gray is seen taking off down a nearby alley.

In a press conference last Wednesday, Ibiza manager Adrian Hernandez said Gray entered the nightclub twice early Saturday morning, but was ultimately escorted out for being too intoxicated.

Hernandez added that Grey got into at least two altercations outside the bar.

"It's just a sad situation for us," Hernandez said. "We just want him to be found ... we just want to cooperate in any way we can. We're doing everything we can to cooperate with the police investigation with the family."

During last week's update, Mullen said detectives spoke to some individuals who were with Gray that night. However, they reported they did not see him or hear from him after he left the bar.

Also on during the update, authorities said they had obtained additional surveillance video showing Gray at the lakefront the night he went missing.

"We received some more video down here at the lakefront from some of the businesses at the marinas that were showing Séamus right on the water's edge," Mullen said. "And so we focused our efforts searching the water again today."

Mullen said Gray's phone has not shown any activity since his disappearance.

"We know he's in excellent shape, and we're very hopeful that maybe he could be out there some place," Mullen said.

'Please Come Forward'

The mother of the missing sailor Seamus Gray spoke Thursday morning in Waukegan asking for anyone that knows any information about her missing son to come forward.

Gray's mother, Kerry Rodier Gray, stood alongside the Waukegan Police Department last week during a press conference, pleading for the community to help find her son.

"There are three things my son lives for. He lives for his family, God and his country. He came here to fight for his country, and now he's missing," she said, asking that anyone with information about Séamus to "please come forward."

During the press conference, Rodier Gray, who lives in Florida, said that she speaks to her son "no less than 10 times a day," through texting, talking, pictures, Facetime or memes.

"I'm here, I'm going through dumpsters looking for my son," Rodier Gray said.

Days later, Rodier Gray posted to Facebook saying she had returned home to Florida, but that she will never give up searching for the 21-year-old.

“Gutted doesn’t even begin to describe what I am,” she said. “The last eight days have been grueling, nauseating, heartbreaking, and quite honestly, soul-crushing. This boy is my heart, my world, my love of my life, along with his little brother Deck.”

She also penned a message directly to her son.

“I got you my baby boy,” she said. “I will never stop looking for you. I live and breathe for you.”

Gray was last seen wearing a pink long-sleeved shirt and pants. According to authorities, Gray is described as a white male, standing 6-feet-3 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. He has multiple tattoos on his left arm, and a script tattoo on his ribcage.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is encouraged to call Waukegan police at 847-360-9001, or by texting the word WPDTIP to 847411.

Tips can also be submitted anonymously on the Waukegan Police Department.

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