Just one day after the one-month anniversary of the disappearance of 21-year-old U.S. Navy servicemember Séamus Gray, the missing sailor’s body was found in Waukegan Harbor on Wednesday, authorities said. Vi Nguyen has the breaking details.
Just one day after the one-month anniversary of the disappearance of 21-year-old U.S. Navy servicemember Séamus Gray, the missing sailor's body was found in Waukegan Harbor on Wednesday, authorities said.
Police received a call of a body found along the shores of Lake Michigan Wednesday night from a group of ComEd workers. Those workers were doing routine work near the harbor and believed they saw a body in the water.
Officers were able to bring the body to shore, and the Waukegan Fire Department was there to assist, according to a press release.
Officials said the body and clothing match the description of Gray, who went missing on March 18. The Lake County Coroner's Office later identified Gray as the victim in the case, with an autopsy scheduled for Thursday morning.
His mysterious disappearance led to large search efforts from multiple departments as authorities struggled to find answers in the case.
Here's a look back at the case's evolution:
When did Séamus disappear?
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According to authorities, Séamus Gray, a sailor stationed at the Naval Station Great Lakes, was last seen around 1:35 a.m. on March 18 leaving Ibiza Nightclub, located at 17 N. Genesee St. in Waukegan, about 40 miles north of Chicago.
Gray's disappearance was first noted when he didn't report back to the Naval Station Great Lakes base at his scheduled 2 a.m. time Saturday, officials said.
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Security footage from outside Ibiza nightclub shows Gray just before 2 a.m. standing and talking to a group of people. At one point in the video, Gray is seen on the ground. At another point, someone in the group appears to grab the wallet from Gray's pocket, but then throws it back at him.
Later in the video, Gray is seen taking off down a nearby alley.
In a press conference, Ibiza manager Adrian Hernandez said Gray entered the nightclub twice early Saturday morning, but was ultimately escorted out for being too intoxicated.
Hernandez added that Gray got into at least two altercations outside the bar.
"It's just a sad situation for us," Hernandez said. "We just want him to be found ... we just want to cooperate in any way we can. We're doing everything we can to cooperate with the police investigation with the family."
Despite the uncertainty surrounding Gray's whereabouts, it wasn't until 2 p.m. on March 21 that Waukegan police say they were notified of Gray's disappearance.
"It wasn't until some days later that they had some information that they uncovered that determined that he was in fact in Waukegan the early morning hours of [March 18]," Waukegan Deputy Chief Brian Mullen said during an update in the case.
Once Waukegan police did learn of Gray's disappearance, Mullen said they "jumped into action almost immediately" and began a search of areas where he was last seen.
Mullen said detectives spoke to some individuals who were with Gray that night. However, they reported they did not see him or hear from him after he left the bar.
Authorities said additional surveillance video also showed Gray at the lakefront the night he went missing.
"We received some more video down here at the lakefront from some of the businesses at the marinas that were showing Séamus right on the water's edge," Mullen said. "And so we focused our efforts searching the water again."
Mullen said Gray's phone has not shown any activity since his disappearance.
"We know he's in excellent shape, and we're very hopeful that maybe he could be out there some place," Mullen said.
How did the search unfold?
Search efforts centered largely on Lake Michigan waters.
In addition to the recent training exercises, Waukegan police, officers, members of the Waukegan Fire Department, the Naval Criminal Investigative Services and the United States Navy conducted additional search efforts in a Lake Michigan harbor roughly three weeks ago.
Authorities said the Navy ran sonar in the Waukegan Harbor. Then the following day, the Navy "deployed an underwater rover into the Harbor to search the area."
At the same time, the Waukegan Police Department searched the shores of Waukegan, which they vowed to continue monitoring and searching "by land and drone operations."
Around the same time, authorities believed they had a potential lead when three search and rescue canines showed "interest in an area by the Government Pier."
"Waukegan Fire Department and Gurnee Fire Department divers searched a large area around the Government Pier in the harbor but did not locate Séamus," the update continued. "Additionally, a surface swimmer searched an area around the Waukegan Yacht Club but was unable to locate Séamus."
According to Chastain, the search spanned the area from Waukegan, to North Chicago, to the Naval Station Great Lakes. It included heavily wooded areas, train tracks, beaches, areas near the lakefront and the lakefront itself.
"If somebody does go into water, they're not coming up right away," Chastain said during a press conference, adding that drones, canines, the Unites States Coast Guard and Naval Intelligence had all assisted with the search.
Chastain also said that while the police department's search was coming to an end, an investigation would continue, and any new leads would determine whether or not a search would pick back up.
"Everybody is a little downhearted that we weren't able to find him, and put some kind of closure to this," Chastain said. "If we develop any other leads, we definitely will be coming back out, if that's what our leads takes us. We're not going to stop our efforts in our investigation."
What can you do if you have information?
Anyone with information in the case is encouraged to call Waukegan police at 847-360-9001, or by texting the word WPDTIP to 847411.
Tips can also be submitted anonymously on the Waukegan Police Department.
