Man swept into Lake Michigan early Saturday dies

A 26-year-old man died Saturday morning after he was pulled from Lake Michigan on the North Side.

Ramiro Calixto, of the Humboldt Park neighborhood, was walking at North Avenue Beach at 5:35 a.m. when he was swept into the water by a wave, Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Fire crews searched for Calixto along the lake, where waves were 10 feet high, for almost two hours before they found him about 7:30 a.m. near the 1300 block of North Lake Shore Drive, according to Chicago Fire Department Cmdr. Frank Velez and the medical examiner’s office.

Calixto was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:04 a.m., according to authorities.

An autopsy conducted Sunday found Calixto died from drowning and his death was ruled an accident, the medical examiner’s office said.

The National Weather Service warned of dangerous conditions along the lake this weekend. Large waves, high winds and flooding along lakeshore paths were forecast until Sunday night. The fire department warned people to stay off of shoreline rocks.