(Michigan City, IN) - The body of a man found in Lake Michigan at Michigan City was from southern Indiana.

 

The victim was identified as Robert J. Iatarola, 34, of Bloomington, according to La Porte County Coroner Lynn Swanson.

Swanson said an autopsy revealed cause of death was drowning.

He was wearing a t-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes when his body was recovered Tuesday afternoon roughly 500 yards from the lighthouse, she said.

 

Swanson said how he wound up in the water and who he might have been with prior to his disappearance were not known but those are among the answers being sought in the ongoing investigation.

She said it appears Iatarola came here with friends during the July 4 weekend and he last spoke to his father, who also lives in Bloomington, on July 9.      

“Apparently, his father had been trying to contact Michigan City Police to file a missing person’s report,” Swanson said.  

 

She also went on to say that pathologist conducting the autopsy estimated Iatarola died three to four days prior to the recovery of his body.

 

The results of a toxicology test to determine if alcohol or drugs were in his bloodstream will not be known for a couple of weeks, Swanson said.