The coroner has identified a 30-year-old man who was found dead after falling off a canoe into Mineola Bay in Fox Lake early Friday morning.
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek has identified the man as Vinod Deonarine, 30, of Schaumburg.
An examination conducted at the Lake County Coroner’s Office Monday showed that Deonarine’s death is consistent with drowning.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Fox Lake Police Department received numerous 911 calls for a report of a person screaming for help around 1:40 a.m. Friday.
The callers believed the person in distress was somewhere in the water on Mineola Bay, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Spokesman Lt. Christopher Covelli.
Sheriff’s deputies and Fox Lake police officers, along with numerous fire departments, responded to the calls.
A 45-year-old man was located safe in the 0-100 block of Holly Avenue in Fox Lake after swimming to shore, Covelli said.
The man, who is from Flagler, Florida, told deputies that he and his friend, Deonarine, went canoeing around 1:30 a.m. Friday.
The canoe flipped and both men fell into the water. Neither man was wearing a life vest.
Covelli said that Deonarine, who was a poor swimmer, went under the water and did not resurface.
Sheriff’s deputies who also serve on the sheriff’s marine unit went to the marine base and launched two sheriff’s boats into the water in an attempt to rescue Deonarine.
They were joined by the Fox Lake Fire Protection District and other fire and rescue boats from numerous other departments.
Members of the Fox Lake Fire Protection District located Deonarine deceased in the water just before 8 a.m., Covelli said.
The investigation continues by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division and Lake County Coroner’s Office.