A pair of suburban teens were rescued from Lake Michigan Wednesday afternoon after their paddleboards were carried away from shore by gusty winds and strong currents.
According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, marine unit deputies were on patrol near the Lake Bluff shoreline when they observed two 16-year-olds floating more than a mile from shore.
The teens, one from Lake Bluff and one from Wauconda, were both paddleboarding, and were being pushed further out onto the lake by the winds and the currents, according to officials.
Neither teen was wearing a life vest, and neither had a cellphone or other emergency communication devices, police said.
Both teens were rescued by the marine unit, and were brought back to shore uninjured.
The successful rescue comes amid an increasing number of tragic incidents on the lake. A boater went missing in Chicago's "playpen" over the weekend, while a woman died after her sailboat capsized in the lake off the shores of Winnetka.
A 16-year-old died after their raft flipped over on the lake, while two other people were rescued after venturing into a no-swim area near Chicago's Montrose beach.
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