Bridgeview teen among 2 Illinois residents to drown over weekend at Indiana beaches

PORTER COUNTY, Ind. - A 16-year-old boy from Bridgeview is one of two Illinois residents to drown at Indiana beaches in separate incidents last weekend.

Mohamed Obied was recovered Monday morning from the Portage Lakefront after going missing a day earlier, according to Porter County coroner Cynthia Dykes.

Obied was one of five swimmers struggling in Lake Michigan rip currents Sunday near the Portage Riverwalk, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said in a statement. Four others were rescued from the water and hospitalized, but Obied remained missing.

He was recovered about 11 a.m. Monday in seven feet of water near the riverwalk break wall, the department said.

The other drowning claimed the life of a 21-year-old Rockford man at Porter Beach, Dykes said.

Moath Nagi was pulled Sunday afternoon from Lake Michigan after being under water for an extended period of time, she said. He was hospitalized at Porter Regional Hospital and died in the ICU shortly before midnight.

Nagi was swimming with his family when he went missing in the water, Indiana Conservation Officer Terri Millefoglie said.

The two drownings were “just a few of the many calls received on Sunday for swimmers struggling in the lake,” Deputy Coroner Kristi Chervenak said in an email.

The National Weather Service on Sunday issued a swim risk warning in Indiana due to waves estimated at three-to-six feet tall. The warning remains in effect at Illinois and Indiana beaches through Tuesday evening.

Thirty-two other people have drowned in Lake Michigan this year, according to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, which tracks drownings.