Search to resume for teen who disappeared in Lake Michigan

PORT WASHINGTON -- Officials searched Sunday, September 2nd for a 14-year-old boy in Lake Michigan, just north of the break wall in Port Washington.

Port Washington Police officials say calls were received just after 2:30 Sunday afternoon regarding a 14-year-old boy who had gone missing in the waters of Lake Michigan, east of the Filtration Plant.

Three boats were in the water looking for the boy, and a helicopter searched from the air.

It's unclear whether high winds and choppy lake conditions played a role in the 14-year-old boy's disappearance into Lake Michigan. However, those conditions did have an impact on rescuers' efforts to locate him.

The waves on the lake were rough Sunday, at one point slamming a search boat into the rocks along the shore.

"The water is rather murky, and the waves certainly don't help," Port Washington Police Chief Kevin Hingiss said.

The search was suspended Sunday night and will pick up again Monday morning.

Neighbor John Beele said he knew something was wrong in Lake Michigan, outside his Port Washington home Sunday afternoon.

"We just knew, unfortunately, there had to be some kind of accident," Beele said.

Word of the search quickly spread through town.

"Our daughters were supposed to be with this group, swimming," Michelle Dawson said.

Instead, Dawson and Karen Graf had their daughters go shopping for Homecoming, before going to the beach to join their friends. When they arrived at the beach, they found out the boy was missing.

"This lake is just so big and rough today. They just tried to have fun and it went bad. My heart breaks for (the family) because it's your worse nightmare come true," Graf said.

FOX6 News learned the 14-year-old boy was going to be a freshman at Port Washington High School this school year. He was the Valedictorian of his middle school and parents and friends FOX6 spoke with said he was a very good kid and very athletic and intelligent.

Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this story.