Figures first: two recreational boats, fourteen people aboard in total, a collision around 11:45 p.m. Thursday on Lake Michigan roughly 1.5 miles off downtown Chicago. By Friday evening the toll stood at one dead and five hospitalized, with the nine remaining people checked and released at the scene. The Coast Guard, notified overnight, put the count of those involved at 14, their ages ranging from about 18 to 26.
The mechanics, according to officials: both boats were returning to port, bound for Monroe Harbor or possibly Burnham Harbor, when one overtook the other and struck it. Deputy District Chief Jason Lach of the Chicago Fire Department, speaking at a Friday morning news conference, described a 33-foot cabin cruiser carrying nine passengers hitting a smaller vessel with five aboard; the fire department separately characterized the boats as about 38 and 42 feet. Two people were thrown into the water and pulled out by others on the boats before responders arrived, within about seven minutes of the first call.
The five people taken to hospitals were all from the smaller boat, four of them in critical condition, transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Stroger Hospital; the fire department said a woman among them was in grave condition. The person killed was Johanna H. Gregory, 26, of the West Loop, identified by the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Rescued from the water, she died early Friday, with an autopsy pending. Her mother, Heidi Schult Gregory, wrote that “She was the very best of us,” and that “This world just lost a beautiful soul.” Gregory practiced as a pediatric occupational therapist, a transplant from Rochester, New York. “She made a difference each and every day in the lives of those little kids,” her mother said, adding “She will be missed by all who had the great privilege of knowing her.” Gannon University’s athletics director, Meghan Morphy, called her a “beloved member of our volleyball program and Gannon family.”
What remains unknown is the story of the investigation. The investigation is being led by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, with everyone involved cooperating. Lach called it a “definite hard collision” but said there is no camera footage, leaving rear-versus-side impact, running lights and any role for alcohol unresolved; lake conditions, in his judgment, were not a factor. One boat was towed by the Coast Guard to Queens Landing, opposite Buckingham Fountain, and Chicago police took the more damaged vessel, its stern worst hit, to the marine unit’s dock.
The official closing note came from Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. James Alling: “While the circumstances are under investigation, this serves as a sobering reminder that safety on the water begins long before leaving the dock,” and he urged boaters to “maintain a proper lookout, operate at a safe speed, and never operate a vessel under the influence.”
Sources
- Chicago boat accident news: Johanna Gregory dead, 4 hurt after Lake Michigan boat crash near Monroe Harbor, officials say – ABC7 Chicago
- West Loop woman dies in late-night boat collision near Monroe Harbor and 4 others injured: ‘She was the very best of us’
