Woman dies in river
Body recovered near Hoffman Tower in Lyons
By Steve Metsch
The body of a 27-year-old Berwyn woman was pulled out of the Des Plaines River Sunday afternoon, Lyons Police Chief Thomas Herion said Monday.
The woman apparently was the only person in a car that wound up in the river about 500 yards upstream from where her body was found, Herion said.
Illinois State Police is handing the investigation, he said. The woman’s name was not released as of Monday.
The woman had apparently been driving “northbound on Lawndale Avenue, proceeded across Ogden Avenue, through the woods, and landed in the Des Plaines River,” Herion said.
“The vehicle was in shallow enough water where the vehicle did not fill up with water,” Herion said. “But it was shallow enough for the driver to get out and could walk to shore or try to get some type of assistance.”
“That, evidently, was not the case,” he said.
“At approximately 8:15 in the morning (Sunday), the vehicle was discovered in the water. Empty. No occupant.”
“At approximately 8:15 in the morning (Sunday), the vehicle was discovered in the water. Empty. No occupant.”
The woman’s body was discovered at 1:10 p.m. Sunday lodged at a pylon for the bridge near Hoffman Tower. Her body was removed from the river at 3:15 p.m.
The road and bridge were closed to traffic for several hours.
“The body was retrieved from the area by Lyons, Riverside and a multitude of other fire agencies,” Herion said. “She was pronounced (dead) at the scene, and the autopsy was done (Monday) morning.”
A cause of death was not released as of Monday, he said.
Foul play is not suspected, Herion said
Where the car was found is the jurisdiction of the Illinois Conservation Police – not the Lyons police – Herion said. The state police are in charge of the investigation.
Asked when the accident took place, he said, “we feel the car was in the river for several hours.”
It’s several hundred feet from Ogden Avenue to the river, he noted.
“I don’t have the toxicology report back yet,” Herion said. “There’s more to this, but we’re in the middle of (the investigation) so we can’t give it out.”
Firefighter/paramedics from York Township, Oak Brook, Winfield, and Addison assisted on the call, Herion said.
Desplaines Valley News
Email Steve Metsch at sm4610@sbcglobal.net
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