Woman, 1 of 4 people to wash up on shores of river and lake in a week, had been reported missing: police – Chicago Tribune

A Back of the Yards neighborhood woman who washed up on the shore of the Chicago River on the South Side Friday morning had been reported missing about two weeks earlier, Chicago police said.

The recovery marks the fourth person, and third woman, found dead in the waters of the city’s river and lake in a week.

Karina Alanis, 31, was found in the South Branch of the Chicago River off the 2600 block of South Damen Avenue about 7:50 a.m., according to Officer Roberto Garduno and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Alanis, of the 4800 block of South Marshfield Avenue, was dead at the scene after police marine unit officers pulled her from the water, Garduno said.

Alanis had last been seen on April 7 in the 4300 block of South Wood Street, according to a Chicago police missing person notification, which said Alanis had recently been diagnosed with depression.

Three other people were found dead recently in the waters of the river and lake:

On April 17, a man’s body was recovered from Lake Michigan in the 3000 block of South Fort Dearborn Drive, in the Bronzeville neighborhood, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The still-unidentified man was also dead at the scene, according to the medical examiner’s office.

The bodies of two women — one of whom was 80 — were pulled from the Chicago River in the West Loop and the South Side on on April 16 at 10:40 a.m. and about 11:15 a.m.

A cause of death was not immediately known for any of the victims, according to the medical examiner’s office and it was not clear if police thought any of the deaths were connected.