
Body found near Thornton Composite Reservoir, medical examiner says
An autopsy was set for Thursday for an unidentified body found near the Thornton Composite Reservoir in south suburban Thornton, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
The body was found Wednesday morning and was pronounced dead at 11:41 a.m. at the scene near 17200 block of State Street in Thornton, the medical examiner's stated. The office did not provide a suspected age, race or gender of the victim and it was unclear how long the body had been there or its condition.
A part of the long-term Deep Tunnel stormwater project, the composite reservoir significantly reduces flooding and the backflow of untreated sewage into Lake Michigan by storing combined sewer overflow during floods before release to the Calumet wastewater treatment plant, according to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The reservoir is also the largest combined sewer overflow facility in the world, according to Wastewater Digest.
Thornton police and officials from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago weren't immediately available for comment on Wednesday.
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Person found dead at Thornton Reservoir died of suicide: autopsy
An unidentified person found dead inside the Thornton Composite Reservoir fell to their death in an apparent suicide, an autopsy showed Thursday. The body was discovered Wednesday morning inside the 300-foot-deep reservoir in the 17200 block of State Street in Thornton and later pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. Local authorities used a drone to help locate the body, which was moved from the site Wednesday evening, according to Alison Fore, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which operates the reservoir. She had no other details. An autopsy determined that the still-unidentified person died from multiple blunt force injuries caused by the fall and that the death was ruled a suicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. The composite reservoir, a part of the long-term Deep Tunnel stormwater project, the composite reservoir significantly reduces flooding and the backflow of untreated sewage into Lake Michigan by storing combined sewer overflow during floods before release to the Calumet wastewater treatment plant, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The reservoir is also the largest combined sewer overflow facility in the world, according to Wastewater Digest.


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17-04-2025
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Person found dead at Thornton Reservoir died of suicide: autopsy
An unidentified person found dead inside the Thornton Composite Reservoir fell to their death in an apparent suicide, an autopsy on Thursday showed. The body was discovered Wednesday morning inside the 300-ft-deep reservoir in the 17200 block of State Street in Thornton and later pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. Local authorities used a drone to help locate the body, which was moved from the site Wednesday evening, according to Alison Fore, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which operates the reservoir. She had no other details. An autopsy determined that the still-unidentified person died as a result of multiple blunt force injuries caused by the fall and that the death was ruled a suicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. A part of the long-term Deep Tunnel stormwater project, the composite reservoir significantly reduces flooding and the backflow of untreated sewage into Lake Michigan by storing combined sewer overflow during floods before release to the Calumet wastewater treatment plant, according to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The reservoir is also the largest combined sewer overflow facility in the world, according to Wastewater Digest.