Sources: Search For Indiana Man Ends In Tragedy
(CBS) -- The search for a missing father from Northwest Indiana appears to be over.
Sources told CBS 2 an SUV discovered Thursday in a Crown Point retention pond – with a body inside – matches the description of the Scion driven by 24-year-old Michael Hernandez.
The married father of two vanished on May 1, after watching a Blackhawks game at a Crown Point bar with some friends.
Thursday afternoon, authorities found a blue Scion submerged in a retention pond in Crown Point, near Greenwood Avenue and Saratoga Street. Crews soon realized there was a body inside the vehicle.
The pond is only about a five-minute drive – or 1.5 miles – from the Safe House Bar & Grill, the last place Hernandez was seen alive. After watching a Blackhawks playoff game on May 1, he called his mother around 11:30 p.m. to say he would be home soon, and then drove off in his blue 2008 Scion, but has not been seen since.
For weeks, friends and family members have been publicizing the disappearance of Hernandez, a father of twin girls.
In that time, dozens of neighbors have driven past the pond, which sources said concealed Hernandez's vehicle and body.
"I'm very glad that they found him, and they have answers now, and they know where he is. I just, I never thought he was right there," area resident Lisa Tomich said.
The circumstances of how Hernandez's vehicle ended up in the pond have not yet been released. The Lake County Sheriff's Department planned a news conference for Friday.
