The coroner’s office has released the identities of a 31-year-old man and 82-year-old man who were both found dead in Pistakee Lake near Johnsburg after going missing Sunday.
McHenry Township Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Kevin Sears said the fire district received a call from the Will County Sheriff’s Office around 6 a.m. Sunday.
The Will County Sheriff’s Office said that two men were reported missing by family members and their last known location was near the Oak Park Lounge, 801 Oak Grove Road in Johnsburg.
The two men were identified as Robert Justin Clow, 31, and Theodor Wachter, 82, both of Naperville.
Crews responded to the Oak Park Lounge and located a vehicle registered to one of the missing men.
Because of the vehicle’s proximity to Pistakee Lake, a shoreline search was started, Sears said.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was later activated to the second alarm to bring sonar equipment and fire department boats to the scene from Lake and McHenry counties.
Sears said that a unified command post was established at the scene to coordinate the efforts of the multi-agency response which included fire, emergency medical, water rescue and law enforcement agencies.
Wachter and Clow were found dead in open water near Coon Island around 3 p.m. Sunday, Sears and the McHenry County Coroner’s Office said.
Their bodies were recovered and turned over to the McHenry County Coroner’s Office, which conducted autopsies on the men Tuesday.
Toxicology results are pending, McHenry County Coroner Dr. Michael Rein said. He did not say what the preliminary autopsy results showed.
Approximately 15 fire departments responded to the scene along with the Johnsburg Police Department and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office.
McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Communication Specialist Emily Matusek said on Monday the sheriff’s office has no indications that the deaths were suspicious.
The bodies were recovered with ice fishing gear, Matusek said, adding that it is unknown if the two were actively fishing at the time of their deaths.
The incident remains under investigation by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, McHenry County Coroner’s Office and McHenry Township Fire Protection District.