A man from Metamora has died while ice fishing in McLean County.
The sheriff and coroner say 49-year-old Jared Ward and another man fell through the ice at Evergreen Lake at Comlara Park about 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Ward was pronounced deceased at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington at 8:18 p.m. The coroner says Ward drowned due to exposure to the cold.
Emergency workers took the second man to Carle BroMenn Medical Center.
This incident remains under investigation by the McLean County Coroner’s Office and McLean County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff's office urged the public to stay off any bodies of water which are ice covered.
"With temperatures starting to rise, ice conditions on the surrounding waterways are beginning to thin, causing unsafe ice conditions," the sheriff's office said on Facebook. "Over the weekend, McLean County Sheriff’s Office responded to Evergreen Lake at Comlara Park to assist Hudson Fire Department with an ice rescue incident, which ultimately resulted in the loss of life. With the warmer weather in the upcoming forecast, please refrain from venturing onto any bodies of water which are ice covered."
