Emergency crews searching for a 21-year-old U.S. Navy member, who went missing and was last seen near Lake Michigan in Waukegan, have called off the search Thursday and will resume Friday.
Seamus Gray, 21, left Ibiza Bar, located at 17 North Genesee Street in Waukegan, around 1:35 a.m. Saturday.
The bar said that Gray had been asked to leave the establishment due to his level of intoxication.
He was seen on video by himself minutes later at the intersection of Sheridan Road and Washington Street in Waukegan, according to Waukegan Deputy Police Chief Brian Mullen.
Kerry Rodier Gray, the mother of the man, said during a press conference Thursday that her son “lives for his family, he lives for God and he lives for his country.”
Seamus Gray is a member of the United States Navy assigned to Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County.
Gray did not report back to the base at his assigned time, Mullen said. Investigators have spoken to people who Gray was with at the bar.
“He came here to fight for his country and now he is missing. I’d like everyone’s help to find my son,” Rodier Gray said.
Rodier Gray, who lives in Florida but came to Illinois after her son went missing, begged anyone with information to come forward.
She said her son “is her life.” She had talked to him just before he went missing.
Gray had planned to play online video games with his brother when he got home that night, Rodier Gray said.
Mullen said the police department was first notified that Gray was missing around 2 p.m. Tuesday.
The Waukegan Police Department Criminal Investigations Division recovered video surveillance footage from the bar and other places, including from the lakefront.
The footage showed Gray traveling eastward and he was later seen walking by himself along the edge of Lake Michigan at the Waukegan Harbor, Mullen said.
The Waukegan Fire Department and Waukegan Police Department, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, have been searching the Waukegan Harbor area, including in Lake Michigan, with no results so far.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated to bring sonar equipment and divers from numerous fire departments to the area Thursday morning.
Canine teams and crews on ATVs have also assisted in the search.
Gray has not been seen or spoken to since leaving the bar, Mullen said. He was supposed to report back to his base by 2 a.m.
Investigators had been utilizing cell phone data in their attempt to search for Gray. Activity is no longer being received from the cell phone.
Mullen said in an update around 3 p.m. Thursday that the search had been called off for the day.
Drones and water sonar equipment were used but Gray has not been located yet.
“We know he is in excellent shape and we are very hopeful. Maybe he could be out there someplace,” Mullen told reporters.
Crews searched on land from Greenwood Avenue to the southern border of Waukegan along the lakefront.
Search efforts will shift further south on Friday and the U.S. Navy is expected to assist with additional resources.
Gray was last seen wearing a light pink or red long-sleeve shirt and pants. He has multiple tattoos on his left arm and a script tattoo on his ribcage.
Anyone with information on Gray’s disappearance is asked to contact the Waukegan Police Department tip line at 847-360-9001. Tips can also be texted to 847411 by writing WPDTIP followed by the message.