Drowning Cause Of Death For Seamus Gray: Coroner

WAUKEGAN, IL — The body of Seamus Gray, the Navy recruit who had been missing for more than a month, was found Wednesday in Lake Michigan, authorities said.

Shortly after 7 p.m., ComEd utility workers doing routine work near the Waukegan harbor flagged down Waukegan police conducting a traffic stop nearby.

The workers told police they spotted what appeared to be a body in the lake, and a Waukegan cop managed to bring it to shore, according to the Lake County Coroner's Office.

The coroner's office identified the body as Gray. Preliminary autopsy results indicate Gray died from drowning, according to officials.

According to a statement from the coroner's office, "There is no evidence of significant injury which would have contributed to his death."

Gray, 21, had not been seen since the early morning hours of March 18, when surveillance cameras captured him near the Waukegan marina after leaving a bar.

A native of Jupiter, Florida, Gray was a fireman recruit at Naval Station Great Lakes, where he was assigned to the Surface Warfare Engineering School Command.

According to his mother, Gray appeared to have been involved in a "tragic accident" after being assaulted and pickpocketed outside of Ibiza bar, 17 N. Genesee St.

Video from outside the bar shows Gray involved in an apparent dispute with a group of people.

Bar management said Gray was kicked out for being too intoxicated and was involved in at least two altercations outside.

Later, he was seen walking alone through an alley toward Sheridan Road.

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"There's three things my son lives for: he lives for his family, he lives for God, and he lives for his country," his mother told reporters last month.

Waukegan police, the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Lake County Coroner's Office are continuing to investigate the circumstances of Gray's death.

"My son," Gray's mother said in a social media post, "was an exceptional young man willing to die serving and protecting his country."

Related:

• Missing Sailor Seamus Gray Went To Lakefront After Waukegan Bar: Video
• Search For Missing Navy Recruit Seamus Gray Shifts South Along Lake Michigan
• Missing Navy Recruit Seamus Gray Was In Apparent 'Tragic Accident,' Mom Says