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Drowning Victim's Body Recovered In Antioch

ANTIOCH TOWNSHIP, Ill. (STMW) -- Divers from area fire departments Monday discovered the body of a 62-year-old man, believed to be a social studies teacher at Nazareth Academy in LaGrange Park, who disappeared while swimming off a pontoon boat on West Loon Lake.

Divers from Lake and McHenry counties discovered the body at 10:42 a.m. Monday using sonar equipment in 30 feet of water in the area where his brother initially indicated to emergency crews, Lake County Sheriff Chief Wayne Hunter said.

The divers were searching for John Michalek of Berwyn, who has a summer home in the 23000 block of West Lakeshore Drive.

Michalek and his brother, Frank, 69, were on the boat and went swimming. The pontoon started drifting away and John found himself in trouble while his brother tried to help him while also trying to go toward the pontoon boat, the elder brother told authorities.

Antioch Fire Department Deputy Chief Christopher Lienhardt said the department received the 9-1-1 call at 2:13 p.m. Thursday from a man on a pontoon boat on West Loon Lake who reported his friend went under water and he was yelling for help.

Hunter said both brothers traveled from out of town to attend a family reunion this past weekend. The brothers decided to go for a swim at a relative's home located on the lake.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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