10-year-old boy dead in apparent drowning in Park Forest public pool

PARK FOREST (SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE) - A 10-year-old boy died in an apparent drowning overnight at a south suburban swimming pool, authorities said.

Authorities were called for reports of a missing child about 4 a.m., according to a statement from Park Forest police. Relatives told responding officers the boy had been playing near Central Park, 410 Lakewood Boulevard in Park Forest.

Family members searching the area saw the boy’s clothes outside a pool in the Park Forest Aqua Center, 30 N. Orchard Drive, police said. An officer scaled the fence, entered the pool, pulled the boy out and started to perform CPR.

Paramedics took the boy to Franciscan Health Olympia Fields, where he was pronounced dead, according to police.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified him as Jaleel R. Drayton of Park Forest. An autopsy Wednesday did not rule on the cause and manner of his death pending further investigation.

Park Forest police and the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Unit were investigating, police said. The Aqua Center was closed Tuesday.