A 9-year-old Chicago girl drowned Saturday at Lakeview Beach in Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore after trying to rescue her younger sister, who had lost her footing in the water.

The Department of Natural Resources identified the victim as Destiny Bahena, who was pronounced dead at South Bend Memorial Hospital.

Destiny’s 6-year-old sister—whose name was not released—was reported to be in stable condition at Saint Anthony Memorial Health Center in Michigan City.

The DNR gave this account of the incident. Around 4 p.m. Destiny and her sister were among a group of 12 to 15 children playing in the water at Lakeview Beach when the 6-year-old “got into trouble after being pushed down by one of the other kids.”

Waves then carried the 6-year-old “to where she couldn’t stand up,” the DNR said. “According to witnesses Destiny tried to rescue her little sister and paid the ultimate price.”

Meanwhile, on shore—“not seeing any of this,” the DNR said—the family party began searching for the girls after not hearing from them for 15 minutes. Searchers found the 6-year-old first, “floating in the water,” the DNR said. “Minutes later Destiny was also found floating in waist-deep water.”

A nurse among the family party administered CPR to both girls on the beach, where she was joined in the effort by DNR Conservation Officer Bob Cauffman, the first responder on the scene. The girls were subsequently transported to Saint Anthony Memorial, from where Destiny was airlifted to South Bend Memorial. There she was pronounced dead.

An autopsy was scheduled to determine the cause of death, the DNR said. The 6-year-old, in stable condition, “is recovering from the ordeal.”

Also on the scene was the Beverly Shores Fire Department, Assistant Fire Chief Andy Himan Jr. told the Chesterton Tribune today. Himan noted that the “water conditions were pretty good” on Saturday, “no whitecaps” and with a south/southwesterly wind and no rip-current advisory issued.

“We drove by earlier in the day and we were thinking ‘We shouldn’t have any water problems today because the water was almost flat,’” Himan said.

A National Park Service (NPS) firefighter checking for illegal fires on the beach apparently made the first call for emergency assistance after encountering the family party caring for the 6-year-old. He radioed his dispatcher at 4:02 p.m. “to get things rolling,” National Lakeshore spokesperson Lynda Lancaster said, and the BSFD Dive/Rescue Team was dispatched to the scene. At 4:20 p.m., after both girls had been found, that call was disregarded.

“The waves were maybe six inches,” Lancaster said. “It was almost dead calm.”

But Lancaster, citing “sandbar courage,” noted that Lake Michigan is treacherous even when calm due to unexpected and invisible drop-offs. “Under water, you can’t see what the beach is doing and that presents a hazard. It’s not like a pool or other lakes. It can drop off quickly. You need to know what you’re getting into when you go to the beach.”

Saturday’s drowning is the first during a swimming season at the National Lakeshore since 2008, when two Chicago boys died in incidents which the Porter County Coroner explicitly attributed to rip currents. There was, however, a near-drowning in June, also at Lakeview Beach, when a Valparaiso man risked his life to save an 11-year-old girl after she’d been caught in a rip. Both were rescued by the man’s brother, who managed to reach them by means of a boogie board.

Since 1995, according to Coroner’s Office records, at least 12 persons—including Destiny—have drowned off National Lakeshore beaches. Six of the 12 have been children.

Lakeview Beach is one of the six unguarded beaches at the National Lakeshore. Only West Beach is patrolled by life-guards.

Posted 7/6/2010