Jose Alcazar reportedly struggled after jumping from pier in Whiting, Ind., with friends. NBC Chicago’s Lauren Petty reports for the NBC 5 NEWS TODAY on June 17, 2014.
An Indiana Conservation Officer late Monday night recovered the body of a teen who went missing in Lake Michigan off Whihala Beach in northern Indiana.
The body of Jose Alcazar, 18, of Hammond, was pulled from the water at about 10:30 p.m., about 50 feet from a newly-constructed fishing pier, Sgt. Shawn Brown with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said.
Brown said the teen was swimming with two friends at about 8 p.m. The trio jumped off the new pier, about 250 feet from the shoreline, and Alcazar struggled to stay afloat, witnesses told officials.
Crews from the United States Coast Guard, the Lake County Sheriff’s Marine Unit and Indiana Conservation Officers were called to the scene in attempt to recover Alcazar. His body was later found by a diver using Sonar and an underwater camera, Brown said.
"Unfortunately it's just one of those things where people go in the lake even on calm days like this and don't appreciate how strong that lake can be and currents and get in trouble rather quickly," said lakefront supervisor Nick Kalwinski said.
An autopsy was scheduled to be performed on Alcazar's body on Tuesday.
