June 02--Rescue efforts have been suspended for two people missing since a boat capsized over the weekend on Lake Michigan, about 6 miles from Chicago's shoreline, authorities said.
Two other passengers were pulled from the water Sunday morning, but one of them died at a hospital and the other was stabilized.
The boat was believed to have left Chicago's Burnham Harbor sometime Saturday, authorities said. It stopped in New Buffalo, Mich., and capsized on its way back to Burnham Harbor about 7 p.m., Chicago Fire Chief Joe Roccasalva said.
About 6 a.m. Sunday, a fishing boat captain spotted the owner of the boat 6 miles from the shoreline.
"He saw what he thought was a kayak," Roccasalva said. "It turned out to be an adult male in a life jacket."
The man was suffering from hypothermia and was taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in critical but stable condition, he said.
"He told probably two or three different stories, but then again, he was confused," Roccasalva said.
After the man warmed up, Roccasalva said, rescue crews determined that three other people were missing and two other passengers had been dropped off before the boat capsized.
Two hours after the man was found in the water, officials found Ashley Haws, believed to be in her late 20s, unconscious and in cardiac arrest, Roccasalva and Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.
She was pronounced dead about 10 a.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner's office. Haws' age and address were not released by the Cook County medical examiner's office, which has scheduled an autopsy later today.
The Coast Guard suspended its search for the two missing people, a 30-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman, after searching 1,600 square miles for a combined 43 hours, according to U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Levi Read.
Coast Guard officials do not plan to resume the search unless there are new developments, an official said this morning.
The man who was rescued indicated all of the passengers were wearing flotation devices, authorities said. Temperatures in that part of the lake are in the low to middle 60s, according to the National Weather Service.
Roccasalva would not release the name of the boat or details about its passengers until family members had been notified, saying only that the craft was believed to be a 30-foot motorboat.
"They have been finding debris out there, boat cushions and bench seats, stuff like that," he said of the search efforts.
The search at one point was done 10 miles from the 31st Street Beach on the South Side. As the search for the missing continued into the evening, rescue efforts expanded. The Chicago Fire and Police departments and the Coast Guard had deployed a total of 10 rescue boats, three helicopters and a plane.
"It's just sit-and-wait now," Roccasalva said.
Tribune reporters Peter Nickeas, Kim Geiger and Adam Sege contributed.
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