A 26-year-old New York native remembered for her “heart of gold” died after a devastating late-night boating crash on Lake Michigan that also left four people seriously hurt.
Johanna Gregory was fatally injured when one boat allegedly overtook another and collided with it around 11:30 p.m. Thursday near Chicago’s Monroe Harbor, Jason Lach, deputy district chief of the Chicago Fire Department’s Marine Dive Operations, told reporters Friday.
She was taken to a hospital in grave condition and died Friday morning.
Gregory, a pediatric occupational therapist from Rochester, New York, had relocated to Chicago and had recently begun a new job in February, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“She had a heart of gold and … I don’t understand how someone so sweet could be taken from us,” her father, Douglas Gregory, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Officials said the crash involved a 38-foot boat and a 42-foot boat about 1.5 miles from Monroe Harbor, a well-known docking area in downtown Chicago.
Lach said the three boaters who remained in critical condition had been aboard the vessel that was hit, after the other boat rode up onto it during the collision.
Authorities have not said which boat Gregory was on at the time of the crash.
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“It was a definite hard collision,” Lach said.
Two people were thrown overboard from the force of the crash, but both boaters were rescued by other passengers before first responders arrived at the scene.
Detectives are investigating if alcohol or drugs were involved and if the boat that was struck had lights on at the time of the crash.
Water and weather conditions are not believed to have played a role in the fatal collision, Lach said.
The boat passengers ranged in age from approximately 18 to 26.
“There’s a lot of questions we can’t answer until all the investigations done,” Lach said.
Gregory, a graduate of Gannon University in Pennsylvania, was remembered after her time as a Division II volleyball player.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to Johanna’s family, friends, former teammates, coaches, and all who knew and loved her. She will always be remembered as a member of the Golden Knight family,” the Gannon University Athletics Department said.
