A person was found dead on the side of the road along Route 176 on the border of Crystal Lake and Prairie Grove Saturday morning amid a nearby missing persons report.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and Crystal Lake Fire Rescue Department responded around 6:59 a.m. Saturday to the 4300 block of Route 176 in Prairie Grove for a report of a person down call.
A 911 caller reported finding a male lying face down in the grass, according to emergency radio traffic.
The caller reported the victim was not responsive and his breathing was unknown.
A witness reported the man was found on the north side of Route 176 just west of the new residential development of Lennar at Woodlore Townes.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene and the McHenry County Coroner’s Office was notified. The Prairie Grove Police Department also responded.
The sheriff’s office issued a community alert saying there was an active police investigation underway.
No threat to the community was reported, the sheriff’s office said, adding that Route 176 was being shut down.
Deputies closed Route 176 from Smith Road to Route 31 for several hours on Saturday morning.
The sheriff’s office responded around three hours earlier to a home approximately a half-mile away for an adult male who was reported missing. It is unclear if the person found was the missing person or not.
The death investigation occurred in the Village of Prairie Grove and the missing person report took place in unincorporated Crystal Lake.
Route 176 was reopened around 10:15 a.m. to vehicle traffic as the scene investigation concluded.
Neither the sheriff’s office nor the Prairie Grove Police Department has released information on the cases yet.