An unidentified male body was located by search teams Friday morning near where Abe Gonzalez, the missing Island Lake teen, was last seen, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Abe Gonzalez, 17, of the 3200 block of Poplar Drive in Island Lake, was seen by his father walking out the front door of their home around 10 p.m. Friday, according to the Island Lake Police Department.
The boy told his father he was going out to get fresh air. Later that evening, Abe was seen at a home in the 26000 block of Morey Street in unincorporated Wauconda attending a party, police said, adding that the teen was described as being highly intoxicated.
He was last seen leaving the party westbound on Maple Avenue from Morey Street by himself shortly after midnight on Saturday. Abe’s cellphone is not working because the battery died when he got to the party, witnesses told police.
Lake County Sheriff Spokesman Sgt. Christopher Covelli said that the body, which has not yet been officially identified, was found by sheriff’s detectives and auxiliary detectives searching on foot around 10:45 a.m. Friday.
The body was a short distance southwest of Slocum Lake completely submerged and covered in ice in a swamp, Covelli said.
On Wednesday, sonar technicians from numerous fire departments in Lake and McHenry counties searched Slocum Lake in Wauconda Township for Abe with no results.
Several police canines, sheriff’s deputies and auxiliary deputies conducted another search that same day of the immediate area where Abe went missing. Detectives have been speaking with those who were at the party and are working on retrieving video surveillance from area residents and businesses, Covelli said.
Abe’s father called police around 6:35 p.m. Saturday when the boy never returned home. A full canvas of the neighborhood was conducted and police interviewed those who had been with Abe before he went missing.
Drone searches of wooded and open field areas also did not produce any results. Specialized dogs from the Illinois-Wisconsin Search and Rescue Dogs organization were called to assist. They arrived Sunday afternoon and continued searching until nightfall with no results.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office is working on identifying the body.
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.