CHICAGO (CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/WBBM) — UPDATED STORY: An autopsy performed today on a body found in a green Honda Civic in Belmont Harbor Sunday afternoon showed the individual drowned, but the manner of the person’s death remains a mystery, according to a spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Authorities, meanwhile, were still trying to determine if the body was that of Roosevelt University student Syed Naqi, who went missing May 1.
EARLIER REPORT: The family of a missing Roosevelt University student tells WBBM Newsradio 780 that car found Sunday in Belmont Harbor is that of Syed “Zain” Naqi .
Police responded at 12:07 p.m. to Belmont Harbor and found a car with a body inside, police News Affairs Officer Anne Dwyer said. A person boating in the area initially reported seeing a car, police said.
The age and gender of the badly decomposed body was not immediately known, police said. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed the death, but the person’s identity was not available as of Sunday night.
The police Marine Unit were at the scene for about four hours, spending about two hours removing the green sedan from the water, police said.
The sedan was in the water for at least a full day, but likely much longer because the car was found extremely murky and covered in weeds, police said.
The cousin of Naqi, 22, said Sunday evening police have confirmed with the family that the car belonged to Naqi, but the body has not been identified.
“The family’s upset,” Mazhar Tabrezi, Naqi’s older cousin, said.
Today, the family told Newsradio 780 in an e-mail that the body is Naqi’s.
Naqi was last seen May 1 at Rebel Bar and Grill at 3462 N. Clark St. until about midnight and he drives a dark-green four-door 2000 Honda Civic with an Illinois license plate of A195471, according to a missing person alert from Elk Grove Village police.
A vigil was held for Naqi May 13 at Roosevelt University, where he is a student.
An Elk Grove Village police detective confirmed they are investigating the body found Sunday, but could not immediately provide information.
It was not immediately clear how the car entered the water. A fence around the area where emergency crews worked was intact until workers removed part of it for the recovery effort. But onlookers said about two weeks ago, they noticed part of the fence was badly bent and tire tracks could be seen leading to the water.
“For a good week it just sat there, without being touched and then just one day it was fixed,” 16-year-old Amanda Nordloh said of the fence.
She said she regularly walks her dog in the area with her mother Michelle Kalfas.
“There were tire tracks across here pointed right to the fence,” Kalfas said.
Cheryl Cerkoske and Kaylie Schier said they were sitting on the grass enjoying the sun Sunday, when suddenly a helicopter appeared over the water, soon followed by other police and fire department crews appearing on the scene.
“The helicopter came down, and two jumpers from the helicopter jumped in, and then a couple more divers came and jumped in,” said Schier.
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.