Shorewood Man Killed in Downstate Boating Accident

A Shorewood man reported missing last week was found dead in Lake Shelbyville early Friday following a boating accident.

A train crew spotted the body of 34-year-old Ryan McCowen on the north end of the lake shortly after 7 a.m., said Moultrie County Coroner Lynn Reed.

McCowen apparently ran his Tuffy bass boat into the pillar of a railroad trestle, Reed said. The boat capsized after the collision.

While an autopsy revealed that McCowen died of the traumatic injuries suffered in the collision and did not drown, investigators were continuing to piece together how the Shorewood man met his end.

"It's under investigation by Illinois Conservation Police officers as far as exactly what happened," Reed said.

A source in Will County said a relative of McCowen's residing in Troy Township reported the Shorewood man missing a day or so before he was found dead.

McCowen had hauled the bass boat downstate on a trailer and put it in the south end of Lake Shelbyville, Reed said.

Lake Shelbyville is an 11,100 acre reservoir in Moultrie and Shelby counties, according to Wikipedia.

Reed said he is awaiting the results of toxicological testing performed on McCowen's body.