Illinois horror as boat capsizes leaving little girl to swim to shore as grandfather and great-grandfather drowned

A seven-year-old girl swam ashore alone after a boating accident claimed the lives of her grandfather and great-grandfather.

The young girl got herself to safety but the two men Clarence B. Royster, 80, of Gary, Indiana, and Clarence B. Royster III, 53, lost their lives on the Illinois lake they were sailing on.

The two men, of Merrillville, Indiana, were pronounced dead after their bodies were recovered from the LaSalle Lake State Fish & Wildlife Area in Marseilles on Sunday, the LaSalle County Coroner said.

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Police responded to the scene after receiving a call about a boater in distress at around 12 pm. Upon arrival at the scene they found that a 17-foot Crestliner had capsized on the 2,000-acre lake, which is known to produce 'extremely hazardous conditions,' according to a state wildlife agency.

The young girl was wearing a life jacket and was able to swim to the shore where she received aid from visitors at the lake who helped her to contact her mother and her grandmother. Neither of the two men were wearing life jackets according to the police report.

The bodies of both men were found at around 7.45pm and an investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing. The lake is manmade and is located in the south roughly 84 miles southwest of Chicago and surrounded by levees, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

A guide from the department explains that the construction "can result in extremely hazardous conditions for unwary boaters," it adds "the surface condition of the lake can change very rapidly and wave action can be excessive."

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