11-Year-Old Boy Drowns In Retention Pond

An 11-year-old boy drowned while swimming with his 9-year-old brother in a retention pond in the village of Hilbert yesterday afternoon. Calumet County Sheriff’s officials say they got a call about a possible drowning in a retention pond near 12th Street shortly after 4 p.m. The two brothers were swimming there and 11-year-old Jacob Meronek went under the water and did not surface. The County’s dive team and bystanders found him in about 8 feet of water. He was taken to the Calumet Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 5:17 p.m. The Sheriff’s Department was assisted by the Calumet County dive team, Hilbert Fire Department, Hilbert/Potter First Responders, the DNR, Gold Cross Ambulance, CMC Ambulance, Flight for Life, and several by-standers.