Illinois couple dies after apparent ice fishing accident

DURHAM, Ill. (AP) — A western Illinois couple died in an apparent ice fishing accident after being pulled from a farm pond by a sheriff’s deputy, police said.

Despite several hours of lifesaving efforts, Sean D. Chaney, 52, and his wife, Dawn A. Chaney, 50, both of LaHarpe, Illinois, died Saturday night at a hospital in West Burlington, Iowa, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office said.

Police found the couple in a farm pond near Durham, Illinois, after dispatchers received a call about 3:45 p.m. CT that two people were in the water, the sheriff’s office said in a news release posted on Facebook.

A deputy pulled the couple from the pond minutes after EMS arrived at the scene near Durham, an unincorporated Hancock County community located about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Springfield near the Mississippi River.

The couple was treated at the Great River Medical Center but succumbed to their injuries, police said. The deaths remains under investigation.