Police in Illinois are searching for a 21-year-old U.S. sailor who was last seen leaving a bar near Lake Michigan on March 18.
Seamus Gray has been missing for nearly a week after leaving his assigned post at Naval Station Great Lakes on March 17 to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day in the nearby city of Waukegan, outside of Chicago, CBS News reported.
“We’ve never not [been] in contact,” his mother Kerry Gray told the outlet. “The only time I’ve ever not heard from my son was when he was in bootcamp. We talked 10 times a day – whether it’s silly memes, whether it’s just texting,” she said.
Investigators uncovered video surveillance footage of Gray leaving a bar alone through a back alley and was later seen at an intersection just before 2 a.m. on Saturday, March 18. Waukegan police Deputy Chief Brian Mullen confirmed there was also video showing an altercation involving the 21-year-old sailor outside of the bar involving his wallet
“We’re investigating that,” Mullen said. “We’re aware of the video outside of the bar – and our investigators are working with NCIS to help identify people who might be on that video,” he stated.
Illinois police are looking for missing U.S. Navy sailor Seamus Gray, who was last seen leaving a bar near Lake Michigan. https://t.co/ZdNWXR2mCm
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 24, 2023
Search teams are focusing their efforts around Lake Michigan’s shoreline and beaches, given the last location data available from Gray’s cell phone and plan to search in the water. “I also want to emphasize the search didn’t just start today,” Mullen told CBS News March 23.
“We were out here all day yesterday, and with the advances in technology and all the drones that we had up in the air and the lack of foliage up in the air this time of year, we had a really nice ability to see – to cover the ground yesterday and re-cover the ground today,” he told reporters. (RELATED: Authorities Fins 8-Year-Old Who Went Missing In 2018 And Return Her To The US, FBI Says)
Though Gray’s mother is trying to hold out hope that her son might be found alive, she told CBS News that as each day passes with no word, it gets harder. “I’d like anybody who has any information about my son Seamus to please come forward,” she said. “That’s my boy. That’s my guy. His little brother is 14. He is my son’s role model. He’s my life. So please help find Seamus.”