Mark Thanos, 48, (left) and his father John Thanos, 74. (Family photos)
Four storm-related deaths were recorded over the weekend in the Chicago area.
In Oak Lawn, Eduardas Jokubauskas, 83, of 10320 Linder Ave., drowned in a window well outside his southwest suburban home Saturday, police said.
Eduardas Jokubauskas was found at 8:45 p.m. Saturday after he had apparently fallen head first into the half-filled window well, which was located on the northwest side of his house, police said. His wife, Aldona Jokubauskas, 76, called the couple's son, who lives in Alsip, shortly after 5 p.m. after she awoke from a nap and couldn't find her husband. His wife noticed that their car was in the garage and the overhead door open, which she told police was unusual.
Their son, Leon Jokubauskas, 50, found his father partially submerged in the well and called 911, police said. On the lawn next to the window police found the plastic well cover, a shovel and a wooden cart that the elder Jokubauskas had apparently taken from the garage to use to empty the well.
Oak Lawn paramedics pulled Jokubauskas from the window well and determined he was not breathing and had no heartbeat, police said. Paramedics learned from Leon Jokubauskas that his father had a heart procedure a week ago, although the elderly man had not complained of any pain or illness.
The Cook County medical examiner's officer ruled the case an accidental drowning.
In Arlington Heights, Alan G. Byrd, 28, of 2703 School Dr. in Rolling Meadows drowned Saturday afternoon trying to swim across a retention pond at Sunset Meadows Park, 700 S. Dwyer Ave.
In northwest Indiana, a father and grandfather died trying to save a 12-year-old who fell into a rain-swollen ditch in Chesterton, Ind., according to the Chesterton Fire Department.
Those killed by the Chesterton rescue attempt were identified as Mark Thanos, 48, a language arts teacher at Wheeler High School in Valparaiso, and John Thanos, 74, both of Chesterton. The boy they were trying to reach was able to make it safely out of the water, the state Department of Natural Resources said. Read an updated story about the two.
Here's a map showing some of the ways the storm affected the region.
-- Wendy E. Normandy, special to the Tribune, and Tribune wire reports
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