Authorities: Man who skipped bill drowned in Fox River in Algonquin

A man who jumped into the Fox River Thursday night after allegedly skipping out on a restaurant tab in northwest suburban Algonquin was found dead Friday evening.

The body of 29-year-old Ernest Prentic of Carpentersville was found about 6:30 p.m. Friday in the Fox River, Algonquin police said in a statement. Police did not specify where his body was located.

Preliminary autopsy results indicated Prentic’s cause of death was drowning, according to a statement from the Kane County coroner’s office.

Officers were called about 9:20 p.m. Thursday to Nero’s Restaurant, 300 Eastgate Court in Algonquin, for reports that a man had run out of the restaurant without paying his tab, police said. The man, later identified as Prentic, was seen running toward the Fox River.

A fisherman saw him leap into the water near Route 62 and North River Road, according to the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District. Dive teams searched the area until about midnight and resumed the search again about 7:15 a.m. Friday.

The case remained under investigation Monday.