CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Bryan Jackson, a 38-year-old Master Trainer for Nike and Jordan, has gone missing after going swimming in Lake Michigan.
Authorities were alerted after 9 am on Tuesday, September 7, about a person missing from a 27ft boat, approximately a mile from the shore.
According Jackson's friends, who were with him on the boat, he went for a swim north of 31st Street Beach and did not return.
Jackson has coached numerous athletes, including his relative Steve Taylor Jr, who competes as a professional basketball player on an international level.
"He touched a lot of people, I’m delusional, I haven’t been to sleep," said Taylor, per Fox 32 Chicago.
Bryan Jackson search operation becomes recovery operation
After extensive search efforts, which lasted until 8.30 pm, the operation transitioned from a rescue mission to a recovery mission, led by the Coast Guard and police.
Jackson's girfriend Sarah Virani said, "We've been told by the detective and by another individual who was on that boat with Bryan that he jumped off the boat to go for a swim."
She continued, "But anyone that knows Bryan knows that he does not ever get in the water, it's not his character."
She added, "It could be 105 degrees and I could ask him if we could get on a jet ski, and he would not want to get in the water."
Tanya Lozano-Washington, who is Jackson's children's mother, said, "They're calling it no longer a rescue. They're calling it a recovery. That's unfair; we haven't even been looking for this man for 48 hours."
She added, "He's an athlete, he could very well have survived this. He could very well be somewhere, maybe even unconscious."
Lozano-Washington expressed frustration over the search efforts and called for a thorough investigation.
"If this was a young white girl, there would have been boats and boats and boats of people out here looking for her," she said.
She added, "There needs to be an investigation. We want a thorough investigation. Not just he drowned and forget it, and now it's just a recovery."
Labor Day weekend drownings and the need for clearer warnings
The incident took place following a busy Labor Day weekend on Lake Michigan. With lifeguards no longer on duty for the season, people are expected to not venture into the water.
Executive director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project Dave Benjamin said, "A better message would be - entering the water may cause serious injury or death that should be replacing 'swim at your own risk' again because people are not swimming in the water, they are wading, or they don't know the risk of water or both."
He added, "It's kind of like a get out of liability free card," per ABC7 Chicago.
