AURORA, Ill. (STMW) – A 52-year-old Aurora man drowned Friday evening after he jumped into the Fox River to cool off from the heat.

According to the initial investigation, the, Gene Autry Pryor, of the 900 block of Oliver Avenue in Aurora, was with three friends — a 36-year-old woman and two men, ages 43 and 48, who apparently had been consuming alcohol for an extended period of time, a release from Aurora police said.

About 7:09 p.m., Aurora Fire and Police personnel responded to an area off Veteran’s Memorial Island, which is located just south of the Illinois Avenue Bridge between Routes 31 and 25 for a report of a man who was neither conscious nor breathing, the release said.

According to the witnesses, Pryor had jumped into the water in an attempt to cool off. After several minutes, his friends lost sight of him and eventually saw him floating face-down in the river, according to police. The two men went to his aid and pulled him ashore, which is where paramedics found him upon arrival. He was taken to Provena Mercy Medical Center in Aurora where he was pronounced dead at 7:35 p.m.

Aurora Police are investigating the apparent drowning and there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances involved in the death, the release said. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday at the Kane County Coroner’s office.

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