After a more than two-hour search, crews were unable Monday to find the person who jumped off a bridge in Blue Island, according to a Blue Island Fire Department report.
Blue Island police Chief Geoffrey Farr said Monday morning they were dealing with a suicidal subject who jumped off the Chatham Street bridge into the Cal-Sag Channel.
Shortly after 5 a.m., a Blue Island ambulance responded to a call for a psychiatric evaluation at the intersection of Chatham Street and 135th Place, according to the report.
The paramedics called for fire crew support and found a person on the Chatham Street foot bridge, the report states.
The person told responding personnel he was going to jump off the bridge, which he did at 6:04 a.m. “witnessed by crews on scene,” according to the report.
Divers arrived on scene and enter the water at 6:48 a.m., according to the report, and they continued the initial rescue search until 7:54 a.m.
The operations then shifted to a recovery effort, according to the report, with a boat sonar used at 8:15 a.m. and the last diver out of the water at 8:34 a.m.
City spokesman Tom Wogan said teams exhausted all water rescue efforts, so crews will monitor the area and the various departments that responded will communicate with each other if they see something in coming days.
The release noted zero visibility in the water due to debris, and stated a complete grid search brought negative results.