2nd Suicide in a Week; Schools Crisis Team has Individual Approach

Students arrived in Crystal Lake District 155 Friday morning to the sad news that a second student had committed suicide. The first student, Adrian Salazar, 18, attended Crystal Lake Central High School. His body was found in Canterbury Park on March 10.

The second student, who has not been publicly identified, was a student at Crystal Lake South High School.

“Our first priority remains to identify the students who are struggling the most and provide them with the help they need,” Jeff Puma, director of communications for Crystal Lake District 155 said. “Students have been made aware of the opportunities for counseling and we are doing the best to support those students with the experts we have on staff.”

“That’s our first priority to do immediate with students that are dealing with depression, to provide them with healthy coping mechanisms.”

Crystal Lake School District 155 has 6,600 students in five campuses.

In 2013, a 14-year-old girl at Prairie Ridge committed suicide. Her body was found in a park. At that time, four people under the age of 21 committed suicide in Crystal Lake parks.

Cynthia Rodriguez was bullied online, according to reports.

Puma said there is no indication that these last two 2015 suicides have to do with bullying.

“There was nothing in these situations that would point at bullying,” Puma said.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death in students between the ages of 14 and 24.

“This isn’t an isolated thing to district 155,” Puma said of the suicides. “I think it’s tragic and it is profoundly saddening to anyone who is in a school setting who might have to deal with this.”