A 90-year-old man died after police say he drove his car off a steep ravine in Beach Park Tuesday evening and was not found until Wednesday morning.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Beach Park Fire Department responded around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday to the 10300 block of West Fairbanks Avenue in Beach Park for a car in the ravine.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived and located a 2020 Kia SUV in a steep ravine, approximately 50-75 feet from the roadway, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.
Deputies located an unconscious 90-year-old Beach Park man, approximately 150 feet away from his vehicle.
The man’s lower body was partially submerged in the water. “It does not appear the man was ejected, but that he walked away from the vehicle,” Covelli said.
Sheriff’s deputies immediately directed paramedics, who were at the scene, to the man.
Paramedics and sheriff’s deputies were able to remove the man from the bottom of the ravine and to the ambulance.
The man was transported to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan in critical condition. He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
Sheriff’s deputies determined that neighbors in the area heard loud noises around 11 p.m. Tuesday, which could have been the Kia driving into the ravine, Covelli said.
The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Unit.