Homewood drowning death ruled accidental

• Reprints

Updated: March 16, 2012 8:19AM

The death of a Homewood man who was found Monday submerged in a small lake in the Izaak Walton Nature Preserve in Homewood was an accident, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said Tuesday.

William Kasper, 59, of the 18400 block of Gottschalk Avenue, drowned at the preserve in the 1100 block of Ridge Road, the medical examiner’s office.

The man apparently was trying to rescue one of his two dogs that had wandered onto ice on a small lake in the preserve.

Fire Chief Robert Grabowski said firefighters who responded to a passerby’s 911 call, were told that someone had fallen into the water and spotted a hat, cane and other clothing near an opening in the ice.

Grabowski said firefighters entered the water and pulled out an unconscious man from an area about 10 feet deep but were unable to revive him. The victim was taken by Glenwood paramedics to Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, where he was pronounced dead at 4:58 p.m., the medical examiner’s office said.

Sun-Times Media