Body pulled from Chicago's Diversey Harbor identified as Peter Salvino

CHICAGO - On Tuesday night, emergency crews in Chicago pulled the body of Peter Salvino from Diversey Harbor while searching the area where his cellphone last pinged before he vanished over the weekend.

Officials with the Chicago Police Department and Chicago Fire Department were on scene, along with CFD’s Scuba Team.

At around 5:40 p.m., crews recovered a body from the water near Dock O.

The Cook County Medical Examiner confirmed to FOX 32 Chicago the body is that of Salvino, the 25-year-old Northwestern University doctoral student who disappeared early Sunday morning.

Friends and loved ones of Salvino were in Lincoln Park conducting a desperate search of their own prior to officials arriving Tuesday evening. The discovery of his body is what they had feared.

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On Saturday, at around 11:30 p.m., loved ones say Salvino left a party in the 2400 block of North Geneva Terrace in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Video footage confirmed Salvino was at the intersection of Clark Street and Fullerton Avenue at 11:43 p.m. He then passed Big Apple Finer Foods at 11:44 p.m.

Salvino FaceTimed a friend at 11:59 p.m. to tell them he was walking to his apartment in the 800 block of West Lill Avenue, which is about a half-mile away.

At 12:15 a.m., the friend called Salvino to confirm that he had arrived home, loved ones said. However, Salvino told the friend he was still walking home.

At 12:31 a.m., Salvino's cellphone pinged a location near Diversey Harbor.

At 12:37 a.m., the friend again called Salvino to confirm he’d arrived home, but the call was not answered.

Between then and 9:30 a.m., several friends sent text messages to Salvino, all of which were successfully delivered to his cellphone but went unanswered.

Around 9:45 a.m., all text messages sent to Salvino went undelivered, and all phone calls made to him went straight to voicemail, according to loved ones.

On Tuesday evening, a police perimeter was set up on the south end of Diversey Harbor while emergency crews searched the waterway.

Shortly after his body was recovered, Chicago police closed Salvino’s missing report.

No further information was immediately available.

The Salvino family released the following statement Tuesday night:

"We are both shattered and relieved to report that, earlier today, we found Peter during the marine search of Diversey Harbor. Throughout the last three days, we have been overwhelmed by the support and assistance we've received from friends, family, and local residents and businesses in our search for Peter. We are grateful beyond measure for their diligence, without which Peter may not have been found. At this time, our family appreciates the public affording us privacy as we process our grief over this devastating loss."

This comes less than two weeks after the body of a Polish man, 21-year-old Krzysztof Szubert, was pulled from Lake Michigan at Oak Street Beach after he went missing following a night out in River North.

Szubert’s cause and manner of death are still pending, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.