Boy drowns at Washington Park in Michigan City
Michigan City, Ind.
An 8-year-old boy is dead after drowning in Michigan City Sunday night.
Reporter: Kelly Taylor
Email Address: kelly.taylor@wndu.com

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An 8-year-old boy is dead after drowning in Michigan City Sunday night.

It happened around 7 p.m. at Washington Park, just east of the lighthouse on the lake.

LaPorte County Coroner John Sullivan said that Martin Perez of Fort Wayne was swimming with his family.

When his parents lost sight of him, they called police.

Divers found Perez's body, performed CPR, and brought him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

There was a rip current warning in place during the time of the drowning, but officials said they are not sure if rip currents played a part in this drowning.

Police say Fort Wayne boy drowns in Lake Michigan

By Times Staff | Posted: Sunday, August 7, 2011 11:00 pm | No Comments Posted


MICHIGAN CITY | An 8-year-old Fort Wayne boy drowned Sunday in Lake Michigan, officials said.
Martin Perez was swimming in the lake just east of Michigan City when family and friends noticed he had gone missing about 6 p.m., according to a Department of Natural Resources news release.
Adults found him floating face down near the shoreline and CPR was administered.
"Michigan City police and Michigan City lifeguards were on scene and valiantly attempted to save the youth," the news release said.
Martin was transported to Franciscan St. Anthony Health in Michigan City.
The LaPorte County coroner ruled the boy's death as a drowning and will not perform an autopsy, the release said.

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind.—
Authorities say an 8-year-old boy from Fort Wayne drowned in Lake Michigan during an outing with a large group of friends and family, while a 40-year-old fisherman was found dead in a northern Indiana lake.

State conservation officers say Martin Perez hadn't been seen for at least 15 minutes at the beach near Michigan City when adults found in floating face down near the shoreline Sunday evening. Bystanders performed CPR, but he was pronounced dead about an hour later.

The fisherman's body was found Sunday evening in Wyland Lake in the Tri-County Fish and Wildlife Area near North Webster after an empty boat was spotted with its motor running.

WNDU-TV and WSBT-TV report divers needed several hours to find the man, whose identity and cause of death wasn't immediately released.

AP-WF-08-08-11 1005GMT