Missing boaters' bodies found a week after jumping in Lake Michigan near Whiting, Indiana
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The bodies of two boaters who had been missing since jumping into Lake Michigan one week ago were found Friday afternoon in the water in northwest Indiana.
Eduardo Rivera Jr., 45, and Salvador Lopez, 32, both of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, were last seen on July 5 when both jumped off a boat in Lake Michigan near Whiting, Indiana.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources officials confirmed their bodies were found in the lake Friday afternoon, about 1.5 miles from where they were last seen.
State officials and the victims' family have said 12 people were on board the boat as it was sailing in the lake near Whiting around 2:30 p.m. on July 5, when Lopez jumped off the boat to go swimming.
Lopez began struggling in the water, because of the winds and waves on the water at the time, and Rivera jumped in to try to help. Neither man was wearing a life jacket.
Rivera also struggled in the water, and a third person on the boat then put on a life jacket and jumped in the lake to try to help, but all three got separated from the boat due to the rough conditions in the water.
The third person who jumped in the water was rescued, but Rivera and Lopez weren't found until a week later, despite multiple searches using sonar, boats, and helicopters.
Rivera's mother, Teresa Zayas, was at her home in Boston at the time he went in the water, when she got what one might call mother's intuition.
"I had a feeling something was going to happen, because as a mom, I could not sleep," she said. "I said, 'Something is wrong.' I said, 'Please, you're scaring me. Call me.'"
But Rivera never did.
"This is like a nightmare," Zayas said. "You want to wake up and say, 'No, it's OK.'"
The preliminary cause and manner for both men is drowning, pending toxicology results, the Lake County Coroner's Office said.
