No lifeguard had watched that stretch of Lake Michigan since Labor Day when an early morning call sent rescue crews after a Northwestern student.
A 19-year-old Northwestern University undergraduate spent roughly half an hour in Lake Michigan before rescuers reached her, weeks after Evanston closed its beaches for the season.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office performed an autopsy Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, on Saba Hani Alkaabi and found the cause and manner of her death inconclusive, pending further studies, after rescuers pulled her unresponsive body from the water near the school’s Evanston, Ill., campus.
Alkaabi was pronounced dead at 8:05 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Endeavor Health Evanston Hospital. The medical examiner’s office identified her and said she lived near campus.
Pulled Unresponsive, Then a Drone Search
A caller reported a person in the water about 7 a.m. near 70 Arts Circle Drive, the shoreline by the Ryan Center for the Musical Arts, just north of Clark Street Beach. Evanston police and fire personnel responded to the university, and Northwestern police also went to the lakefront emergency.
Police said the woman had been in the water about 30 minutes. “Water rescue personnel pulled an unresponsive woman from the water near the university’s southern lakefill area and performed CPR,” the Evanston Police Department said in a news release. Crews carried her aboard a Marine 21 rescue boat to the Church Street boat ramp, then on to the hospital.
Later that morning, Evanston police launched a drone to search the southwest and southeast portions of university property and the lakefront as part of the investigation. Officers worked alongside Northwestern University police to identify the woman, and police said she was a current student who was not from the Evanston area.
A Notice to Faculty and Staff
Susan Davis, Northwestern’s vice president of student affairs, sent a notice to faculty and staff on Oct. 21 identifying her as an undergraduate. The university said first responders attempted life-saving measures.
Eliza Larson, Northwestern’s associate director of communications, said the university’s thoughts are with the student’s family and friends, and that support services are being offered to community members affected. Larson said the Evanston Police Department is handling the investigation.
Evanston police said the death remains under investigation and that there is no danger to Northwestern or the City of Evanston. The investigation “continues,” police said as of Oct. 22.
Beaches Closed Since Labor Day
Evanston’s beaches have been closed since Labor Day, the traditional end of the swimming season on Lake Michigan, and no lifeguards were on duty. Police said hazard warnings and signs prohibiting swimming and fishing are posted along Northwestern’s lakefront property.
“Lake Michigan can be dangerous,” police added in the release. They urged the public to heed the warnings, check lake conditions before going near the water and follow instructions from city or university officials to stay out of the lake and off break walls and rocks.
Jackie Ovalles saw the commotion on the lakefront while taking her husband to work at Northwestern. She said students come from all over the world, and visitors from outside Illinois crowd the shoreline.
“Lake Michigan can be dangerous, and a lot of people aren’t aware of how dangerous it can be,” Ovalles told CBS News.