Child's Body Recovered From Pond in Hammond

*UPDATE*- Positive identification of the deceased has been made by the Lake County Coroner.  The deceased is Jaclyn Angel Dobbs, 1 year old, from Deerfield, Illinois.  Family has been notified.  The investigation into the cause of death continues as an autopsy has been scheduled for Friday morning, 11/12/2021. 

Original release is included below.

Hammond- This afternoon, the Indiana State Police were dispatched to the area of I-80 and the Kennedy Ave. ramp for a report of a person in a retention pond.  The pond is located on the south side of the ramp from I-80 eastbound to northbound Kennedy Ave.  When troopers arrived at the scene, they spoke to a construction worker who showed them what appeared to be a body in the retention pond.  The Hammond Fire Department also arrived on scene and immediately entered the water, removing the body from the pond.  It was apparent that the body, a black female whose age appeared to be less than five years old, was deceased.  This is an ongoing investigation.  State Police detectives are currently following up on leads while working with the Major Crimes Assistance Team (MCAT), which is comprised of multiple law enforcement agencies in Illinois, on this case.

The name of the deceased is pending positive identification by the Lake County Coroner’s Office.  An autopsy will also be conducted to determine the cause of death. 

Assisting at the scene were the following agencies:  Hammond Fire, Hammond Police, Lake County Regional Dive Team, INDOT, Hoosier Helpers, Lake County Coroner, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Indiana State Police Criminal Investigation Division, and the Indiana State Police Crime Scene Investigators.

-30-