1 dead, 1 missing after swimming in ‘very hazardous waves’ on lakefront

A 52-year-old woman went missing and a 46-year-old man died after they went swimming in hazardous waters in Lake Michigan on Sunday.

The unidentified woman, from Elgin, and man, from Itasca, were part of a group of about 10 people in a “cold-weather” swim group that went in the lake near Highland Park as dangerous waves hit the lakefront, officials said.

Steve Knapp and other members of North Shore Yacht Club were getting the club ready for winter when they noticed the group arrive at an adjacent public beach in Highland Park and begin to strip down to their swimsuits.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the group was there around 10:30 a.m. for a “polar-plunge type event.”

See Chicago Sun-Times