Seamus Gray, a U.S. sailor who was stationed at Naval Station Great Lakes, went missing on March 18 after celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day at a Waukegan, Illinois bar near Lake Michigan. When he went missing, Gray failed to report to his base for his 2 a.m. shift.
On Wednesday, April 19, ComEd utility workers saw a body floating in the water in the harbor. Police were nearby conducting a traffic stop and were alerted to the body in the water. The body was recovered and brought to shore by police and the Waukegan Fire Department.
Over the Saint Patrick’s Day weekend, Gray was seen on video at the Ibiza Nightclub. He left the club shortly, but when he returned, he was refused entry since the bar was closing.
He was then seen talking on his phone near a group of people, and then a confrontation took place, and Gray was seen on the ground with a man on top of him.
After leaving the bar, Gray was again seen on video around 1:40 a.m. walking near Sheridan Road and Washington Street.
After an extensive search of the areas by Waukegan Police and the Fire Department where Gray was last seen, no further evidence was found to explain how Gray ended up in Lake Michigan.
The Lake Country Croner’s Office performed a preliminary investigation saying the body and clothing matched the information they had on the missing sailor and were able to make a positive identification that it was the body of the missing sailor, Seamus Gray.
On Thursday, April 20, The Lake County Coroner’s Office officially reported the cause of death as drowning. No other injuries or contributing factors to his death were found.
Gray’s mother flew into Chicago to help with the search. She reported that she and Gray often spoke by phone and text daily and that “he lived for the Navy.”
Gray had celebrated his 21st birthday just a month before, in February.
