A 911 call about a person in the water off Northwestern University’s lakefront ended with an undergraduate dead at an Evanston hospital.
Saba Hani Alkaabi, a 19-year-old Northwestern student, was pulled unresponsive from Lake Michigan near the school’s Evanston, Ill., campus on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. An autopsy Thursday, Oct. 22, to determine the cause and manner of her death was inconclusive and pending further studies, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
Alkaabi was pronounced dead at 8:05 a.m. that day at Endeavor Health Evanston Hospital. The medical examiner’s office identified her and said she lived near campus.
Pulled From the Southern Lakefill
A caller reported a person in the water about 7 a.m., giving a location 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 responded to the lakefront emergency.
“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.
First responders took her aboard a Marine 21 rescue boat to the Church Street boat ramp and then to the hospital. Police said she had been in the water about 30 minutes. The university said first responders attempted life-saving measures.
A Drone Joins the Death Investigation
Evanston police flew a drone later that morning over the southwest and southeast portions of the university’s property and lakefront as part of the investigation. The department said the investigation continues and that there is no danger to the Northwestern or Evanston communities, and police said foul play is not suspected.
Officers worked alongside Northwestern University police to identify the woman, who police said was a current student and was not from the Evanston area.
Susan Davis, Northwestern’s vice president for student affairs, sent a notice to faculty and staff on Oct. 21 identifying her as an undergraduate. Eliza Larson, the university’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.
No Lifeguards 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,” the department added in the release, which urged people to heed the warnings, check lake conditions before going near the water and follow city or university instructions to stay out of the lake and off break walls and rocks.
“Lake Michigan can be dangerous, and a lot of people aren’t aware of how dangerous it can be,” Jackie Ovalles, who was taking her husband to work at Northwestern when she saw the commotion on the lakefront, told CBS News. She said students come from all over the world, and many visitors near Lake Michigan are not from Illinois.
