Woman Dies After Sailboat Capsizes Off North Shore: Fire Officials

WINNETKA, IL — Rescuers found a woman in Lake Michigan Monday morning who had spent the night in the water after her boat capsized, officials said. Once she was taken to shore, she was pronounced dead.

Two women in their 50s reportedly set sail Sunday from Evanston in a 12-foot sailboat, which capsized around dusk.

One of the women managed to swim the whole two to three miles to the shoreline in Winnetka, reaching Tower Road Beach around 2 a.m. Monday and notifying authorities of her missing companion.

The Coast Guard and local fire departments, launched a search and rescue operation from Lloyd Beach, utilizing boats, drones and helicopters.

After several hours of searching, a Chicago Fire Department helicopter located the missing woman around 7 a.m. Monday about a mile offshore, north of Winnetka, and took her to Montrose Harbor in Chicago.

Rescuers carried out CPR on the woman at the shore and took her to Weiss Memorial Hospital in critical condition, according to a Chicago Fire Department spokesperson. She was later pronounced dead, according to fire officials. Her identity has yet to be released by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

Both boaters were reportedly wearing life preservers when they went into the water.

This rescue operation came a day after a 58-year-old man fell off a boat in Chicago’s “Playpen,” the popular boating area near Oak Street beach and Navy Pier. His body had not been found as of late Sunday.

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