NAPERVILLE TEEN DROWNS IN RIVER
July 22, 1990
DESCRIPTION: David Ellis, A 15 year old boy, drowned a section of the DuPage River bordering the DuPage County Forest Preserve. At around 12:30 p.m. on July 22, 1990, Ellis a friend were in a canoe talking to two of their friends who were standing on a low water bridge that crosses the river. Ellis and his friend, who were not wearing life preservers, had met their friends at the bridge after canoeing south on the river. They talked by the bridge for about half an hour, and then decided to head back upstream since there was no clearance under the bridge.
"We pushed them out and the canoe went under the bridge," a friend said. The force of the water capsized the canoe and forced the pair under the bridge. The point where the water flows under the bridge acts like a strainer, with metal trestles collecting leaves, branches and other debris. The river's water level was high due to recent heavy rains. As the canoe went under the bridge, it became stuck in the dam. "It was sticking up for about 10 minutes," Thomas said. During that time one boy let go of the boat and the metal trestles, and surfaced a few yards on the other side of the bridge, managing to make it to shore.
One of the boys on shore called a veterinarian from the County Line Animal Hospital on
Washington street, just south of the bridge, who came out and helped push the canoe under the bridge. The canoe came out upside down, but they didn't see Ellis. The canoe then was swept up in the river's current and got caught on a grassy island about 100 feet south of the bridge.
"We heard pounding coming from the canoe. It's shallow - about one foot deep at the islands."
Another friend of the boys said that he found the canoe lodged in some brush about one-fourth of a mile from the dam, by the Shady Nook Marina. He ran out to the street and flagged down a police officer. Soon the Naperville police and fire departments were at the scene, along with the Lisle/Woodridge and Plainfield fire protection districts and Aurora's Water Rescue Team. In order to see if the boy was still caught under the bridge, rescue workers attempted to free trapped debris from the waterway. A chain saw was used to cut some of the large branches, and two divers from Lisle/Woodridge went into the water and began to drag the water with a net in front of the bridge. At approximately 2 p.m., divers found the boy's body in water about one and a half feet deep, approximately 120 feet southeast of the bridge.
Source:
The Naperville Sun Newspaper
ANALYSIS: Inexperience led to a careless approach to what is clearly a dangerous hazard. Even skilled rescuers would have been hard-pressed to make the save. Life preservers might have helped, but could have increased entanglement danger. (CW)
