The vehicle of a 22-year-old missing man was located by Waukegan police near Lake Michigan with the keys still in the ignition, but no sign of the man.
Mario Alejandro Montano, 22, of Waukegan, was reported missing Tuesday by his mother, who fears he jumped into Lake Michigan.
Montano’s mother contacted the Waukegan Police Department and officers helped locate the man’s vehicle near the Waukegan Municipal Beach.
The car door was found open with the keys in the ignition and Montano’s cell phone was still inside. A police canine reportedly picked up Montano’s scent along the lake.
Waukegan Police Commander Joe Florip told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that a thermal drone and a four-wheel off-road vehicle had also been used to search for the man.
Authorities have sent out a missing person alert in a nationwide database to police departments and local hospitals have been notified, Florip said.
“I fear that he could’ve thrown himself in the lake, he suffered from depression, but the police were no longer able to help or send divers into the lake,” said the man’s mother, Maria Montano.
The Waukegan Police Department’s Investigations Division is actively working the case and the Patrol Division continues to assist as well, Florip said.
Anyone who has information on Montano’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Waukegan Police Department at 847-360-9000.