The victim stated to a friend that he was going fishing on the pond.  He left his truck at the friend's residence.  Later that night, the friend noticed the victim had not returned and notified the authorities.  Attempts to locate the victim were unsuccessful that night and the search resumed the next day.  The victim's fishing equipment was found floating and the canoe was found capsized.  A short time later, the body was recovered fully clothed and wearing a pair of hip wading boots.  Autopsy reports indicate the victim drowned.  The only other injury was a slight laceration to his head.

It was concluded that the canoe the victim was fishing from was a very unstable platform.  Any movement left or right of the center would have caused the canoe to become susceptible to capsizing.  The victim is believed to have fallen overboard after the canoe he was fishing from capsized.  The hip wading boots he was wearing likely restricted his ability to swim and prevented him from making it to shore.  The victim was not wearing a lifejacket.
Palos Park                    