A body recovered from Lake Michigan in Wilmette was identified Saturday as a man who had been missing since late last month in Chicago, officials said.
Daniel Sotelo, 26, a chemistry graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, was found May 22 in Lake Michigan, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The cause and manner of his death are still pending, the medical examiner’s office said.
On May 11, the Chicago Police Department posted a missing person bulletin for Sotelo, which said he was last seen or heard from on April 29 in the 1700 block of South Racine Avenue in the Pilsen neighborhood.
On Saturday evening, Chicago police posted an updated bulletin saying Sotelo had been located. Anthony Spicuzza, a police spokesperson, referred questions to Wilmette.
According to a statement from Wilmette police Chief Kyle Murphy, a boater spotted Sotelo’s body about a mile offshore. The medical examiner’s office used dental records to confirm his identity, the statement said.
Sotelo’s sister, Jennifer, confirmed his death in an Instagram post Saturday.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share that Daniel has been found and is no longer with us. My family and I were blessed to have had Danny for the short time that we did. He was an absolute light for us all,” Jennifer Sotelo wrote.
“His kindness was reflected in his eyes, and his generosity was conveyed in the way he took care of others. His smile had the ability to warm the heart of anyone that came across it. We are fortunate to have witnessed it as many times as we did,” she wrote.
An online campaign for funeral expenses had raised more than $7,600 as of Monday morning.
The news of Sotelo’s death comes weeks after Chicago police pulled the body of Sotelo’s girlfriend, Natally Brookson, from Lake Michigan in the Edgewater area on May 2. A missing person flyer that circulated online said Brookson, 22, was last seen April 30 in the 5500 block of North Maplewood Avenue in the Lincoln Square community.
The cause and manner of Brookson’s death are still pending, according to the medical examiner’s office. Chicago police say detectives are conducting a death investigation, pending autopsy results.
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Brookson was an undergraduate senior in the UIC College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, according to the university.