Body of Navy sailor missing since St. Patrick's Day celebration found in Lake Michigan

JUPITER, Fla. – The body of Seamus Gray, a Navy sailor from Florida who disappeared last month after leaving a St. Patrick's Day celebration, was found in Lake Michigan north of Chicago.

Utility workers in Waukegan, Illinois, reported seeing a body in Waukegan Harbor on Wednesday evening. Deputy Police Chief Scott Chastain said officers pulled the body ashore with the help of the Waukegan Fire Department. The body and clothes matched Gray's description, Chastain said.

The Lake County Coroner's Office confirmed the body's identity Thursday. The 21-year-old died by drowning, said coroner Jennifer Banek. Preliminary autopsy results show there is "no evidence of significant injury" contributing to his death, she said in a news release.

Previously: Family in turmoil as search for 21-year-old Navy sailor gone missing near Chicago ends

Gray left bar in early morning after St. Patrick's Day

Servers at the Ibiza bar in Waukegan, Illinois, said they asked Gray to leave the bar at about 1:30 a.m. on March 18 because he appeared drunk. He had 30 minutes to report back to Great Lakes Naval Base, about 5 miles south of the bar, but never did.

A surveillance camera recorded Gray walking alone in the direction of Lake Michigan at 1:40 a.m., still in the pink shirt he wore during his FaceTime with his mother. The search began about three days later and ended Friday after Waukegan Police Commander Scott Chastain said they "exhausted every effort" to find him.

Gray was an active-duty fireman recruit assigned to the Surface Warfare Engineering School at the Great Lakes Naval Base.

Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Seamus Gray body found: Navy sailor dead of drowning in Lake Michigan