Man Identified After Body Found In Car Pulled From Suburban Pond

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Dec 21, 2016 5:08PM

Authorities have identified the man whose body was found in the car that was pulled from a freezing cold Lynwood, Illinois pond earlier this week.

The man was Christopher L. Stone, a 28-year-old Chicago Heights resident, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. His Pontiac sedan had driven into the pond Sunday afternoon, according to the Tribune. It was buried in silt 30 feet underwater and took emergency workers hours to get it out, on what was forecasted to be one of the coldest days of the year.

The car crashed into the water, which was part of a Water District reservoir, in the 3000 block of East Lincoln Highway, around 12:35 p.m. Sunday. A witness told authorities that someone was seen calling for help in the water before drowning. But no one else has been recovered from the pond and it is still unclear whether any other people were in the vehicle.

Emergency crews had to cut through ice frozen on the surface of the water in order to recover the car, and on Sunday two Lynwood first responders were hospitalized due to exposure.