Man Dead, Girl Missing After Cellphone Is Dropped in Chicago River

After dropping his phone in the icy Chicago river, a 26-year-old man leaped over the fence and fell in the freezing water in an attempt to retrieve it. Two of his friends followed him trying to help but ended up endangering themselves for a gadget.

Ken Hoang from St. Paul, Minnesota, wasn't willing to let his mobile phone get lost in the water and jumped in the partially frozen river to recover it but ended his life during the attempt. His friends, Lauren Li and Quoc-Viet Phan Hoang tried to help but failed, as Li is missing and presumably dead and Phan was rescued by emergency workers.

Rescuers pulled the two men out of the water but only managed to save Phan, while Ken died in the hospital. Phan is in stable condition but the girls accompanying them, Li is still missing and most likely dead in the river, according to authorities, notes Daily Mail.

The lucky survivor posted a heartbreaking message on his Facebook page as a response to the Chicago river tragedy. “Life's too short..I hope no one would ever have to go through something so unfortunate such as what happened...from the bottom of my heart I am sorry for what happened...RIP Ken Hoang, Lauren Li,” the post read.

The deceased man's family created a memorial fund page on Youcaring.com in order to raise money and to support his family who lost “a Son, a brother and friend.” From the $15,000 (€11,000) goal, the website helped them raise almost half in just one day.

Authorities have organized a search in order to find the body of the missing woman, Lauren Li, whose chances of being found alive are little to none, taking into consideration the wretched conditions and the below-zero degrees temperature.

“The lesson learned here is simple, if your pets go onto ice, if you drop a cell phone or wallet, do not try and retrieve it,” Garry McCarthy, Chicago Police Superintendent says, notes Daily Mail. Material things are not worth putting your life or other's lives to risk for they can always be replaced, not the same thing can be said about a person, though.