Man died while trying to save passengers on sinking yacht in Lake Michigan, wife says: 'He's a hero'

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Crews pulled the body of 40-year-old Lorenzo Tobin from Lake Michigan on Sunday, days after he went missing in the water.

Lesley Jackson-Tobin says her husband was hired to help take a group of people out on Lake Michigan for a birthday party.

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"He's the kind of friend where if you would ask any of those friends, they will say, 'That's my best friend,'" Jackson-Tobin said.

Jackson-Tobin has been trying to piece together what happened Friday evening when the yacht, which was carrying 15 other people, capsized and sank minutes after leaving 31st Street Harbor.

"Lorenzo didn't know the people whose birthday it was. He was just there as, like, a deck hand," Jackson-Tobin said. "I mean honestly, it makes me angry, because this should not happen. You know, my husband could swim very well."

Jackson-Tobin said people who witnessed it all unfold said her husband was working to save passengers, getting people life jackets amidst the chaos.

"He's a hero. He's a hero. And I feel like even if he had not been on that boat, would have just been walking by, he would have done the same thing," Jackson-Tobin said.

Jackson-Tobin's husband was missing for nearly two days. Crews pulled his body from the lake after his cousin, Charles Tibbs, spotted him while they were at the scene on Sunday afternoon.

"Somebody knows something. We just want somebody to give us some steps on what happened," Tibbs said.

Jackson-Tobin said she has not spoken to the captain of the yacht since Friday evening, nor does she know the owner of the boat.

"The fact that he helped people, and he's the only one that did not make it, I'm angry," Jackson-Tobin said.

The U.S. Coast Guard said they are running a joint investigation, alongside Chicago police and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, into what caused the yacht to capsize.