Boy, 15, Dies After Being Pulled From Pond In McHenry County
CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (CBS) -- A 15-year-old boy has died after he was pulled out of a pond in northwest suburban McHenry County late Thursday night.
Rescue crews were called to a pond behind a home in the 6100 block of Haligus Road, in unincorporated McHenry County near Crystal Lake, shortly after 9 p.m. Police said the boy had been hanging out with friends when he went in the pond, and didn't resurface.
Authorities identified the victim as Jose A. Esquivel of Crystal Lake.
Crews set up emergency lights and divers used sonar equipment to search for the boy.
More than 90 minutes later, divers found him submerged in about 8 feet of water. Paramedics took him to a hospital in Woodstock in critical condition.
The McHenry County Coroner's office confirmed he was pronounced dead around 11:45 p.m.
Investigators were not sure why the boy went into the pond, which is up to 20 feet deep in some places.
Neighbors of the family who live at the home where the pond is located said there was some sort of get-together there Thursday night, and the boy was one of several teenage visitors. They believe he was a freshman at Crystal Lake Central High School, where students were off school on Friday, and many were hanging out together Thursday night.
Crystal Lake Central student Kassi Dvoracek said, "at Central, we're all close, and … it's not a bad school, so we all look out for each other. So we're all gonna ... our hearts are all going out from them."
The owners of the home where the pond is located declined comment.
