The medical examiner has released the identity of a 15-year-old girl who died after she was found unresponsive and rescued from Lake Michigan near Zion Friday evening.
The Beach Park Fire Department responded around 5:45 p.m. Friday to Illinois Beach State Park, 1 Lake Front Drive in unincorporated Zion, for a report of a water rescue.
Beach Park Fire Department Lt. Hopkins said firefighters and paramedics arrived and spoke with several witnesses to establish a last-seen point of the victim.
A 15-year-old female swimmer was confirmed to still be under the water on Lake Michigan.
Members of the Beach Park and Winthrop Harbor fire departments entered the water to conduct a surface scan at the last-seen point, Hopkins said.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated to the box alarm level to bring in additional fire departments to assist. Multiple rescue boats were also called.
Hopkins said the 15-year-old girl was located and removed from the water by rescue divers and swimmers.
The teenager was transported by ambulance to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan.
Hopkins said the victim, who was unresponsive, regained a pulse while being transported to Vista, Hopkins said.
She was later transferred to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office reported that the girl died in the hospital Saturday morning.
The medical examiner’s office later identified the girl as Ceasia Ketchum, 15, of Zion.
Her official cause and manner of death have not been determined yet.