[UPDATED] Joliet Man Dies After Car Drives into Lily Cache Creek

Editor's note: This story was updated at 5 p.m. with information provided by the Plainfield Police Department and the Will County Coroner's office.

Plainfield police are investigating the death of a man after a gray Mercedes was found upside-down in Lily Cache Creek Monday morning.

The Will County Coroner's office identified the man as George C. Weathered, 30, of Joliet. Weathered was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:40 a.m.

Plainfield Deputy Fire Chief Jon Stratton said firefighters responded to a report of a vehicle in the water shortly after 7 a.m. The car was in the creek upside-down about 100 yards south of the bridge near the 16300 block of Route 30/Lincoln Highway, according to Stratton.

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In a press release, Plainfield police said they received a call reporting a car in the creek around 7:10 a.m. Upon arriving, officers discovered the upside-down Mercedes "completely frosted over with ice formed in the creek and around the vehicle."

Plainfield firefighters who arrived on the scene discovered a single deceased victim still inside the vehicle, police said.

Sgt. Mike Fisher said an employee at a business in the nearby Lily Cache Plaza reported spotting the vehicle early Monday morning. It's unclear how long the car had been in the creek.

"I can tell you it was there for an extended amount of time," Fisher said, noting that most of the nearby businesses close fairly early on Saturday and do not reopen until Monday morning.

"We have nothing to indicate that anyone reported him missing," Fisher said, adding police are investigating how the car wound up in the creek.

"No one saw it go in," he said. "It's a pretty desolate area of the creek off of the main road."

Slick roads could have been a factor in the incident, he noted. The car doors and windows were closed when it was found, indicating no one had gotten out of the vehicle, he said.

"At this point, it doesn't look like there's any foul play," Fisher said, but noted that police are not ruling it out. 

According to the coroner's office, preliminary autopsy findings were inconclusive on Monday. Weathered's final manner and cause of death is pending autopsy, toxicological and police reports.

Editor's note: Photos courtesy of Todd Sherman of Northern Illinois FireGround Photos.

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