Updated: Search Resumes for Missing Bolingbrook Man After Canoe Capsizes

UPDATED - 9:50 a.m.

Fire officials are searching for a 25-year-old Bolingbrook man who disappeared after his canoe tipped over early Tuesday morning in a Woodridge retention pond.

After being suspended due to darkness and heavy weeds in the pond, the search resumed at 7 a.m., according to Lemont Deputy Fire Chief Jay Nickleski. 

As of 9:50 a.m., there were still no signs of the man, identified as Jeremy Asbell of Bolingbrook.

According to Dawn Domrose, spokesperson for the DuPage County Sheriff's Office, authorities have searched the perimeter of the pond. Divers are being sent into the water in pairs, she said.

The Lemont Fire Protection District was notified around 2 a.m. of a possible drowning in a retention pond at Frontage Road and Woodward Avenue, according to Lemont Fire Chief Carl Churulo.

Churulo said two men were out on a canoe when it capsized, tossing both into the water. One man was able to swim to safety, but the other remains missing.

The missing man was identified by authorities as Jeremy Asbell, a 2004 graduate of Romeoville High School and father of two. On his Facebook page, he lists his current residence as Darien and his hometown as Bolingbrook.

Friends and family were on the scene Tuesday morning, along with area television crews.

Asbell's mother, Linda Asbell, said she was notified by police around 2:30 a.m. that her son was missing. She said she has received conflicting reports about what he may have been doing on the pond and who he was with.

"I'm hearing so many different things, I don't know what to think," Asbell said. "We heard he may have been at a bonfire at a nearby house, but no one will talk to us.

"We're just continuing to pray. This doesn't make any sense."

Responders from the DuPage County Sheriff's Department were assisting with the search, as well as officials from the Lisle-Woodridge, Westmont and Tri-County fire departments.

With high temperatures expected Tuesday, Nickleski said officials wanted to resume search and rescue efforts as early as possible this morning. The search will go no later than noon, he said.

The retention pond is located near in unincorporated DuPage County.

Check back with Patch for more on this developing story.