Lake County Gazette

Two children died when the jet ski they were operating crashed into a boat on Lake Marie on June 18. The 16-year-old girl from Lake Forest, California, and the 13-year-old girl from Long Grove were killed in the crash.

According to a Lake County Sheriff's Office press release, the Lake County Sheriff's Marine Unit and Patrol Division responded to a report of a jet ski versus boat crash on Lake Marie at 5:15 p.m. on June 18. The preliminary investigation showed that the 16-year-old was operating the Yamaha jet ski and the 13-year-old was the passenger. They were traveling northerly near the channel to Grass Lake just north of the Elime Road Peninsula. A Sea Ray cabin cruiser operated by a 55-year-old man from Antioch was traveling westbound in the area, approaching the Grass Lake Channel.

Witnesses said the jet ski was operating at a high rate of speed toward the Sea Ray, according to a Lake County Sheriff's Office press release. The Sea Ray was unable to avoid collision and the watercrafts struck each other. The jet ski occupants, who were wearing life vests, were knocked unconscious and thrown into the water. The four occupants of the Sea Ray immediately pulled the girls from the water, called 911, and rendered aid. The Sea Ray took one girl to shore while another passing boat operator took the other girl.

The girls were taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where they were pronounced dead after their arrival, according to a Lake County Sheriff's Office press release. The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit and Illinois Conservation Police.