Authorities provide description of child found dismembered in lagoon

The child whose dismembered body was found in the Garfield Park lagoon was most likely African-American and between 2 and 3 years old, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The remains were found after a person called 911 about 4:40 p.m. Saturday to report what turned out to be a toddler’s left foot floating in the Garfield Park lagoon.

Officers subsequently found additional body parts, and the child’s head was found Sunday night. The case was classified as a death investigation.

The cause and manner of the child’s death are pending the results of additional tests and the ongoing police investigation, according to the medical examiner’s office. All of the body parts were decomposed.

Reached by phone on Sunday, Dr. Stephen Cina, the Cook County medical examiner, said his team would be looking for fingerprints, DNA and any telltale signs of trauma.

About a half dozen members of the Chicago Police Marine Unit were clustered in the water at the northeast corner of the lagoon Monday morning.

Most of the park was ringed with yellow and red police tape. Police were using long sticks to probe the murky bottom, rather than diving.

Police News Affairs Officer Thomas Sweeney said the search continued as of 3:30 p.m. Monday, but he wasn’t sure when it would end for the day.