Chicago businessman, wife found dead in Wis. lake

October 4, 2010 (ELKHORN, Wis.) Toxicology tests are weeks away, according to the coroner, who said it was too early to determine a cause of death. The bodies of Juell, 93, and his wife, Anne S. Juell, 77, were found floating in White Water Lake in Walworth County, Wis., Saturday afternoon by a fisherman.

Dive teams were called to collect evidence, and the bodies were turned over to the coroner.

Birger Juell is a member of the Chicago Yacht Club and has participated in the Race to Mackinac. The company he founded in 1946, Birger Juell, Ltd., which has done work on the homes of Oprah Winfrey and Hugh Hefner, creates custom wood flooring and has a store at the Merchandise Mart.

Anne Juell's son Mark Norris says the couple were wearing bathing suits, so the family believes one got into trouble in the water and the other tried to help.

The couple owned a home on Whitewater Lake.

Anne Juell was the first woman inducted into the Island Goats Sailing Society, where entry requires having sailed in at least 25 of the annual Chicago-Mackinac Island yacht races.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.