Sheriff: 16-year-old drowns in Lake Louise in ‘tragic accident’

BYRON – A 16-year-old boy drowned in Lake Louise on Saturday in what the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office called “a tragic accident.”

The boy was pronounced dead at a children’s hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, where he had been transferred after initially being taken by Byron Fire Protection District ambulance to a Rockford hospital, Sheriff Brian VanVickle said. They were notified of the death on Sunday, he said.

“I believe he went down a water slide and then never resurfaced,” VanVickle said. “Our initial reports indicate that bystanders began CPR before emergency services got on scene.”

The Dane County medical examiner is performing the autopsy, he said.

“Based on our initial investigation, there’s no indication of foul play,” VanVickle said. “This is just a tragic accident.”

Lake Louise is in Byron, along state Route 2.

The sheriff’s office did not release any other information on the boy.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the date of the drowning. It occurred on Saturday, June 3.

Alexa Zoellner

Alexa Zoellner

Alexa Zoellner reports on Lee, Ogle and Whiteside counties for Shaw Media out of the Dixon office. Previously, she worked for the Record-Eagle in Traverse City, Michigan, and the Daily Jefferson County Union in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.