Crews Searching For Missing Swimmer At Beach In Gary, Indiana
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Family members are waiting for answers, after a young woman vanished in Lake Michigan near Gary, Indiana.
Tiara Hardy, 24, went swimming with two friends Monday evening at Marquette Park Beach.
Hardy's mother said her daughter was in water up to her chest when a wave hit her and her friends above the shoulders, and sucked them in.
Good Samaritans pulled Hardy's two friends to shore, but Hardy drifted further out into the lake, and hasn't been seen since.
Rescue crews from Gary searched the water, but called off the search around 7:30 p.m., due to the dangerous conditions in the lake.
Calmer conditions Tuesday morning gave search teams a break. Crews were combing a three-mile stretch of the beach by ATV and boat on Tuesday.
Hardy's father was growing frustrated at the size of the search Tuesday morning, confronting Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson at the scene.
"My baby out there drowned. She's dead. We just want her body. I want my baby found, so her momma can see her daughter for the last time. That's all I want. It's not enough manpower out there in that water," he said.
Freeman-Wilson said she has made a second request for help from the U.S. Coast Guard.
Lifeguards patrol the beach between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., so were not on duty at the time Hardy was in the water.
Freeman-Wilson said flags at the beach also warn of dangerous conditions in the lake, although none were visible at the spot where Hardy's family was gathered Tuesday morning. However, there was a sign indicating swimming is prohibited when there are strong rip currents.
At the time Hardy was swimming, the National Weather Service had issued a beach hazards statement due to dangerous waves and currents along the Indiana lakeshore.
People who live in the area said local residents usually do not go in the water at the beach, because it is known to have dangerously strong currents.
Less than a year ago, another tragedy happened on the same beach. On Aug. 5, 2017, 24-year-old Kaitlynn Boswinkle, of Hammond, was found dead after police and firefighters responded to calls for a woman in the water. The beach was closed at the time, and no lifeguards were on duty.
CBS 2's Lauren Victory and Mai Martinez contributed to this story.
