Emergency personnel recovered the body of a 16-year-old Villa Park boy from the Des Plaines River on May 18, about 150 yards from the railroad bridge where witnesses said he entered the water.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Police are continuing their investigation into the death of Cameron Sanders, who on May 13 reportedly jumped from the “Rainbow Bridge,” a Canadian National Railway bridge that spans the river just south of North Avenue in Thatcher Woods in Melrose Park. His body was recovered from the river at about 10:25 a.m. on Thursday.
According to published reports, Sanders and several other teenagers were hanging out near the bridge and that two others had also jumped into the river at the same time. Sanders was the only teen who did not exit the water safely.
In the wake of the May 13 incident, Sheriff Tom Dart has demanded that the Canadian National Railway secure the bridge, which is not marked by signs and is not fenced off from the surrounding forested area.
For the past two days, Cook County Sheriff’s Police officers have been stationed at bridges south Melrose Park, watching over the river, whose current flows to the south.
