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Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Boating Accidents

It was a deadly Memorial Day weekend in Yorkville, Illinois, outside of Chicago. Kayaker Craig Fliege went over the Glen Palmer Dam first. When passersby Mark and Bruce Sperling, who are brothers, saw him fail to emerge, they went into the water to try and save him, but all three were sucked and held beneath the suface by the powerful hydraulic forces of the falling water.

The dam is deceptively dangerous, falling only about three feet. However, the falling water creates a boil just beyond the dam which can suck in and hold swimmers beneath the surface. The dam has been the site of at least 16 drownings in the last 30 years.