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A community leader and activist in Pilsen said she believes a boater who went missing in the lake Tuesday morning is the father of her children, a man authorities said went into the water about a mile from the shore near 31st Street Harbor.
“I have to tell my kids something today after school, and I haven’t been able to get any information,” said the Rev. Tanya Lozano. “These words matter. We’re a family in crisis right now.”
Lozano said the missing man is Bryan Jackson, an athletic trainer born and raised in Chicago. Jackson, 38, played football for Bowling Green State University and Indiana State University.
Since 2017, he has been a Master Trainer for Nike, representing Nike Training and Jordan Brand, she said and according to his LinkedIn profile. He has worked with Chicago sports teams including the Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Bulls.
Authorities have not recovered the missing man’s body and no official identity has been released by police. The Chicago Police Department declined to comment. A spokesperson said there are no updates currently available on the investigation or recovery operation.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard’s 9th District, which monitors the Great Lakes region, the man along with a woman had gone into the lake, but the woman was able to make it back into the boat. But the man who went under was not seen resurfacing, a Coast Guard spokesman told the Tribune Tuesday.
Lozano, who shares two children — Apollonia, 10, and Junie, 6 — with Jackson, told the Tribune that there was also another man and woman on board the 27-foot boat. She said the pair told her they were on the bottom deck at the time Jackson and the other woman jumped off the boat.
By the time the pair made it back to the top deck, Jackson and the woman were gone, Lozano said.
“The current, I guess, must have taken them,” Lozano said.
Passengers on the boat told Lozano that Jackson would have jumped around 7:20 a.m. on Tuesday, Lozano said. The U.S. Coast Guard was involved in an hour long search starting around 9 a.m. the same day.
After Jackson was not found within an hour, the search was reclassified as a recovery mission.
Lozano said the incident was out of character for Jackson.
“Brian has never been known to jump off a boat,” Lozano said. “He’s not the kind of person who would jump in the water.”
Lozano said she was told that one of the women on the boat was questioned by Chicago police on Tuesday but was not detained. The two women who were on the boat have since boarded flights back to Brazil, where they live, Lozano told the Tribune.
The Chicago Fire Department is no longer involved in searching for Jackson, spokesman Larry Langford said. Any ongoing investigation is now entirely a police department matter.
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Friends of Jackson discovered Jackson’s Jeep parked at 31st Street Harbor with all the doors locked Tuesday night, Lozano said. Lozano also noticed Jackson’s phone in the Jeep this morning.
Employees on 31st Street Harbor seemed largely unaware of the search for Jackson as of Wednesday morning, Lozano said.
Lozano said she has had a hard time getting updates from police. She said she has reached out to the offices of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, for assistance as friends and family continue to search for Jackson privately.
Jackson is a strong swimmer, she said, and Lozano maintains faith he could still be found.
“He’s an athlete,” Jackson said. “Maybe he swam somewhere. Maybe he’s unconscious somewhere. Don’t give up hope. We have to take it upon ourselves.”
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