RACINE — Multiple Racine County law enforcement agencies were involved in a Friday morning recovery operation of a body on Lake Michigan off Augusta Street and Michigan Boulevard.
2October 2020
Sgt. John Spieker, left, is assisted by a fellow Racine Police Department officer Friday morning in expanding a crime scene area as part of recovery operations along the Lake Michigan shoreline at Zoo Beach. A body was found near there Friday.
Multiple Racine County law enforcement agencies were involved in a Friday morning recovery operation on the Lake Michigan shoreline off Augusta Street and Michigan Boulevard.
The area was being treated as a crime scene, with a large section of shoreline being cordoned off by Racine Police south to Zoo Beach.
In an interview Friday afternoon, Racine County Medical Examiner Michael Payne said that an autopsy on the recovered body will be performed in Milwaukee. A preliminary determination on the cause of death is expected by late Monday afternoon.
Payne said a full autopsy report, including toxicology testing, likely won’t be available for about eight weeks.
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No identification of the victim was released.
“At this point we’re not releasing any identification or anything out of respect for the family,” Payne said.
Agencies responding to the scene included the Racine Police Department, Racine Fire Department, Mount Pleasant Police Department, Racine County Sheriff’s Office and the Racine County Medical Examiner’s Office.
It remains unknown whether the recovery effort is related to the Sept. 22 disappearance of Casey Shaw, an 18-year-old Mount Pleasant resident. The initial investigation into Shaw’s disappearance led officers to the area of Augusta Street and Michigan Boulevard in Racine, where Racine Police, the Racine County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Coast Guard conducted an extensive search.
The Journal Times will post additional information regarding the ongoing Lake Michigan recovery effort as it becomes available.(tncms-asset)59b1c5fb-2079-5451-ac9c-986035088762[1](/tncms-asset)
Erosion threatens lakefront properties
Over the last few years, residents along the Lake Michigan shoreline have watched as the erosion of the lake bluffs threaten their property.
Falling house
The home at the east end of 17th Street in Kenosha is falling into Lake Michigan, and a crew is getting prepared to dismantle the house.
Carthage College aerial 1966
This photo of Carthage College, taken in 1966, shows a significant beach, which has now been mostly consumed by Lake Michigan.
Carthage College 2019
This aerial photograph, shot in September, shows the current Lake Michigan shoreline at Carthage College.
Lake bluff erosion update
Updated photos show improvements along shoreline to prevent erosion. Over the past three years, the Village of Mount Pleasant has worked to minimize erosion along Lake Michigan which threatened homes and public infrastructure.
Repairs on the shoreline
Randy Vassh,of Vassh Excavating and Grading dumps concrete on Aug. 30, 2016, over a Lake Michigan bluff for erosion protection in back of a home in the 1200 block of Graceland Avenue, in the Lake Park neighborhood of Mount Pleasant. Vassh used concrete from the Waukegan (Ill.) National Airport renovation project to install erosion protection to several threatened homes in the neighborhood. Village officials are continuing to explore more long-term erosion solutions.
Lake Erosion Issues
Caution tape blocks off an area of land where a garage was removed before it could fall in to Lake Michigan. Village President Jerry Garski announced Tuesday that concrete will be donated and trucked to Mount Pleasant to aid lakefront homeowners facing severe erosion issues. The concrete can be used as part of a temporary solution to halt erosion threatening as many as 20 properties in Mount Pleasant.
Lake erosion threatens homes
Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave looks at shore erosion during a May 16 meeting of public officials from the state, county and Mount Pleasant, along with local residents, to discuss what can be done to stop the serious erosion issues along the Lake Michigan shoreline in the Lake Park neighborhood of Mount Pleasant. Village President Jerry Garski has called a news conference for Tuesday, July 19, to provide an update.
Lake erosion threatens homes
Serious erosion along the Lake Michigan shoreline in the Lake Park neighborhood of Mount Pleasant threatens several homes in the neighborhood. One home has been taken out and about 10-12 homes are in jeopardy, according to Mount Pleasant Village Administrator Kurt Wahlen.
Lake erosion threatens Mount Pleasant homes
Public officials from the state, Racine County and Mount Pleasant along with local residents discuss what can be done to stop the serious erosion issues along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Mount Pleasant during an inspection on May 16.
DEMOLITION OF SOMERS LAKEFRONT HOUSE
Michigan shore in Somers on Wednesday. The house is being razed before it tumbles off a bluff and into Lake Michigan. High water and storms eroded the bluff to the point where the house's foundation was dangling over the lake.
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