A woman's body was pulled from Lake Michigan Wednesday morning as crews searched for a boater who went missing after falling into Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium, authorities said.
The body was found around 9 a.m., roughly 12 hours after the woman had gone missing.
Police initially believed the woman had fallen off the boat when it struck a break wall around 9:40 p.m. Tuesday near the Museum Campus in Monroe Harbor. The recreational boat had several people onboard at the time, but after further investigation, authorities said the woman and a few others had actually left the boat to go for a swim when a storm suddenly moved in.
Authorities said the woman was not wearing a life vest while swimming.
Divers were deployed to the scene but the search was suspended briefly overnight before resuming early Wednesday morning.
Witnesses reported a sudden storm made conditions hazardous at the time of the incident. In addition, water levels along the lakefront are higher than normal, reaching near-record levels in recent weeks.
"These are record-breaking levels out here," said Dep. District Chief Jason Lach with the Chicago Fire Department's Marine Dive Ops. "Some of the break walls are partially or fully submerged... those would normally be used for navigation so people on the Great Lakes and especially in Chicago need to take the responsibility on themselves."
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