A missing US Navy sailor who was last seen leaving a pub the day after St Patrick’s Day has been found dead in a harbour close to Lake Michigan.
Officials announced that 21-year-old Seamus Gray, who disappeared last month and caused his mother Kerry to suffer for weeks, had been discovered near a lake in Waukegan, Illinois.
Rescue workers and Navy troops scoured the city in a desperate search while Kerry posted social media updates about her anguish.
Utility workers waved down police officers on Wednesday at around 7 p.m. when they were conducting a traffic stop close to the Waukegan Harbour, according to the police.
The ComEd workers reported what they thought to be a body in the water as they were performing normal maintenance close to the harbour.
The body was pulled onto the shore with assistance from the Waukegan Fire Department, and police chief Edgardo Navarro said it matched Gray’s physical description.
According to WGN9, the body’s clothing matched his description as well.
The body was later identified as being that of Grey by the Lake County coroner, according to the site.
On Thursday, an autopsy will be performed to ascertain the cause of death.
In the days that followed, lots of people spent hours searching the lakefront for Grey, including Waukegan and North Chicago police, firefighters, the Office of Naval Intelligence, water rescue teams, and about 100 Navy personnel.
In an effort to find her son, Gray’s mother also made the trip to Waukegan from Florida.
On Waukegan’s Genesee Street, detectives discovered security tape showing Grey leaving the Ibiza Bar.
He is seen exiting the bar alone in the footage while wearing a pink suit.
On March 18, about 1:40 am, he was last seen and last heard from at the intersection of Sheridan Road and Washington Street; he had not been seen or heard from since leaving the pub.
Waukegan police, the US Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the Lake County Coroner’s Office are all involved in the ongoing investigation into the tragedy.
Soon after her son disappeared Kerry wrote a post on social media.
Kerry wrote: ‘The last 8 days have been grueling, nauseating, heartbreaking and quite honestly soul-crushing.
‘This boy is my heart, my world, my love of my life along with his little brother Deck.’
She added: ‘As I type this I’m trying not to throw up. I cannot sleep, and will not sleep until I have answers as to where my son is, and what happened to him.’
In one social media post, Kerry wrote that she and a friend were taking part in the investigation and were searching dumpsters for her son’s body.
‘Tomorrow I have to do what no mother should ever have to do. I have to go on a foot search with the Police Department, Fire Department and many others who will join in to find my son Séamus Grays body,’ she wrote on March 23.
