RIP HOMIE, I went to the wake today it was rough. I lost 2 homies in 2 weeks. RIP
Instead of celebrating a trio of family birthdays, the Millers spent Saturday mourning the death of their youngest son and brother.
"What we did on my mom's birthday is made funeral arrangements and picked out a coffin and put flowers on the water my brother drowned in," said Kristina Miller, sister of 18-year-old Stephen Miller, a 2002 Crown Point High School graduate who died Friday while swimming with friends at an old stone quarry in Momence Township, Ill.
The boys were trying to swim the length of the quarry, his mother, Deborah Miller, said Monday. Steve was a good swimmer, so it's hard for her to understand what happened.
"He did know how to handle himself in the water," said Steve's father, Glenn Miller. "He used to go swimming all the time."
Two of Steve's friends told officers with the Kankakee County Sheriff's Police that they had begun swimming from shore when Steve said he couldn't make it and turned around, said Ken McCabe, chief investigator with the Police Department.
Steve, described by family and friends as athletic, then sank underwater, never resurfacing, McCabe said. His friends tried to find him, swimming as deep as they could, but with no luck, he said.
When his body was found, the Cedar Lake teen was in 45 feet of water, about 84 feet from shore, said Hank Woronka, the scene coordinator for Aquatics Underwater Recovery and Rescue Inc., the dive team that aided in the search.
Though Woronka's group found Steve within 15 minutes of arriving at the scene, the 18-year-old had already been in the 58-to-60 degree water for more than an hour. Steve was taken to Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee, but attempts to revive him were unsuccessful, McCabe said.
McCabe said the two friends admitted smoking marijuana with Steve the day of the drowning. A bag of the drug along with two pipes were recovered at the scene, McCabe said.
One of the friends who was with Steve at the quarry said they did smoke the marijuana that day, but it was hours before they got in the water, and they weren't under the influence at the time of the drowning.
Deborah Miller took umbrage to reports implying they smoked just prior to getting in the water.
But Steve's mother was even more upset that swimming goes on at all at the quarry, which is near Momence at county roads 15500 East and 5000 North. Deborah Miller said the area is loosely fenced off, but there aren't any "no trespassing" signs or indications of how deep the water is.
"It's too easy to get in there," she said, adding that large groups are known to swim in the quarry at any given time, including young children.
Kristina Miller said people were swimming in the quarry the day after her brother died. She worried that someone else could get hurt, which is exactly what her brother would not have wanted.
She said Steve, a year younger than she, always looked out for people, especially her and her sister, Erin, and the rest of their family.
"He was my little brother, but he was my big brother," Kristina Miller said. "Anyone messed with me, they messed with him. It was more than just brother and sister. It was a special bond."
Steve graduated from Crown Point High School in January, completing his course work in three and a half years instead of the usual four. He received his diploma at the school's June 12 commencement.
Instead of celebrating a trio of family birthdays, the Millers spent Saturday mourning the death of their youngest son and brother.
"What we did on my mom's birthday is made funeral arrangements and picked out a coffin and put flowers on the water my brother drowned in," said Kristina Miller, sister of 18-year-old Stephen Miller, a 2002 Crown Point High School graduate who died Friday while swimming with friends at an old stone quarry in Momence Township, Ill.
The boys were trying to swim the length of the quarry, his mother, Deborah Miller, said Monday. Steve was a good swimmer, so it's hard for her to understand what happened.
"He did know how to handle himself in the water," said Steve's father, Glenn Miller. "He used to go swimming all the time."
Two of Steve's friends told officers with the Kankakee County Sheriff's Police that they had begun swimming from shore when Steve said he couldn't make it and turned around, said Ken McCabe, chief investigator with the Police Department.
Steve, described by family and friends as athletic, then sank underwater, never resurfacing, McCabe said. His friends tried to find him, swimming as deep as they could, but with no luck, he said.
When his body was found, the Cedar Lake teen was in 45 feet of water, about 84 feet from shore, said Hank Woronka, the scene coordinator for Aquatics Underwater Recovery and Rescue Inc., the dive team that aided in the search.
Though Woronka's group found Steve within 15 minutes of arriving at the scene, the 18-year-old had already been in the 58-to-60 degree water for more than an hour. Steve was taken to Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee, but attempts to revive him were unsuccessful, McCabe said.
McCabe said the two friends admitted smoking marijuana with Steve the day of the drowning. A bag of the drug along with two pipes were recovered at the scene, McCabe said.
One of the friends who was with Steve at the quarry said they did smoke the marijuana that day, but it was hours before they got in the water, and they weren't under the influence at the time of the drowning.
Deborah Miller took umbrage to reports implying they smoked just prior to getting in the water.
But Steve's mother was even more upset that swimming goes on at all at the quarry, which is near Momence at county roads 15500 East and 5000 North. Deborah Miller said the area is loosely fenced off, but there aren't any "no trespassing" signs or indications of how deep the water is.
"It's too easy to get in there," she said, adding that large groups are known to swim in the quarry at any given time, including young children.
Kristina Miller said people were swimming in the quarry the day after her brother died. She worried that someone else could get hurt, which is exactly what her brother would not have wanted.
She said Steve, a year younger than she, always looked out for people, especially her and her sister, Erin, and the rest of their family.
"He was my little brother, but he was my big brother," Kristina Miller said. "Anyone messed with me, they messed with him. It was more than just brother and sister. It was a special bond."
Steve graduated from Crown Point High School in January, completing his course work in three and a half years instead of the usual four. He received his diploma at the school's June 12 commencement.
