Body recovered in Lake Michigan near Whiting park

The body of a Chicago man, who had been missing for more than two weeks since departing on a boat with a friend, was recovered Tuesday near Whiting Lakefront Park about 200 yards from shore.

Dexter Trendell Sain, 36, drowned, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office, with a toxicology report pending. Sain underwent a forensic autopsy on Wednesday, investigators said.

A release from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said a park visitor saw what appeared to be a body about 2 p.m. at the park. First responders recovered the body floating northeast of the park near the BP Water Purification Plant.

Sain and Curtis Herron who is also 36, have been missing since the morning of July 27, when they took out a new boat on Lake Michigan. Family members said the pair likely wanted to give the 30-foot Bayliner named Cindy Ann a test run as the longtime friends from Chicago had very little boating experience. The boat departed Pier C at the East Chicago Marina around 8:28 a.m., and it was headed toward Illinois before moving beyond the reach view of surveillance cameras.

Around 10:15 a.m. on July 27, East Chicago police say that Sain and Herron contacted a tow company after experiencing electrical issues, though they ultimately turned down a tow because it was too expensive. The last recorded location for the two men was one mile away from Cleveland Cliffs Steel Indiana Harbor Works in East Chicago.

The Lake County Sheriff marine unit started searching for the boaters on July 29 after being notified that the pair were missing, and they notified The Coast Guard on the morning of July 30, which started its own search and rescue efforts which were suspended Aug. 1 after two days.

Multiple agencies were deployed and brought into the search since the boaters disappeared, including the United States Coast Guard, Department of Natural Resources, FBI, Chicago Police Department marine unit and the Lake County Sheriff Department marine unit.

If anyone has information regarding the whereabouts of Herron, they can call East Chicago Police Detective Miguel Pena at 219-391-8318 or the department’s anonymous tip line at 219-391-8500.

Chicago Tribune’s Shanzeh Ahmad and Dia Gill contributed.