Séamus Gray, a 21-year-old Irish American Navy sailor, was last seen leaving the Ibiza bar in Waukegan, Illinois, at 1:40 am on Saturday, March 18.
While in the bar, Gray sent a picture of himself drinking a green beer to his mother Kerry Rodier Gray, and later video-called her to say "cheers." Staff had reportedly asked him to leave the bar because he appeared to be drunk.
Surveillance camera footage, shared by Waukegan Police Department, showed captured Gray walking in the direction of Lake Michigan at 1:40 am, still wearing the pink shirt he had been wearing in the bar.
Gray was supposed to report at the Great Lakes Naval Base by 2 am on March 18 but never showed up.
Waukegan Police Department said on Thursday morning, March 23 that they had "conducted an extensive search of the area Gray was last seen."
However, the following day, Commander Scott Chastain told reporters: "Right now we're ending our search effort.
He added: "At this time though we just feel that we've hit everything we can on land, in the air, and along the coast and there's just nothing else we can do at this moment except for follow up on the investigation leads."
Gray's mother Kerry Rodier Gray, a native of New York who is now based in Florida, has been sharing updates on her social media pages.
"My boy Séamus appears to have been in a tragic accident," she publicly posted most recently on Sunday, March 26.
"Searchers are still out looking for his body. When they find him I will post and let everyone know.
"I have no other info right now other than we love him, are going to never be the same without him and he will NEVER be forgotten.
"I want to thank you all for your love and support during this horrific time."
Earlier on Sunday, Gray posted that she was back home in Florida after traveling to Illinois to assist in search efforts and meet with authorities. Gray said the previous eight days had been "grueling, nauseating, heartbreaking and quite honestly soul crushing."
"Seamus was assaulted outside of the establishment and was pickpocketed," she wrote. "He had one drink at that bar later that night and one earlier in the night."
Rodier Gray shared an appeal on March 22 saying that it had been five days since Seamus was last seen. She noted how she "searched dumpsters along with my incredible friend for my son Seamus’s body."
Gray's belongings remain in his room at the Great Lakes Naval Base where he was an active-duty fireman recruit assigned to the Surface Warfare Engineering School.
More than 100 US Navy personnel and members of the US Coast Guard spent days searching Lake Michigan, nearby woodlands, and the lakefront but found no signs of Gray.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) shared a missing person notice about Gray on March 25.
#missingperson share and repost.
Anyone with information please contact Waukegan, IL Police Department Dispatch (847) 599-2608/NCIS Resident Agency Great Lakes, IL at (847) 688-5655. #usnavy #waukegan #missingsailor Waukegan Police Department U.S. Navy pic.twitter.com/t960Zo8vhO
— NCIS (@RealNCIS) March 26, 2023
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