The family of Manuel Rosales, the Streamwood man who drowned at Naperville’s Centennial Beach last summer, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Naperville Park District.
Rosales’ cause of death was ruled as accidental drowning last year, according to the DuPage County Coroner’s Office. However, the lawsuit, filed today in DuPage County Circuit Court, alleges “willful and wanton conduct” contributed to his death, including slow emergency response and negligence of lifeguards, as well as the beach’s “murky waters.”
“No family should ever have to experience this type of loss,” the Rosales family said in a statement. “If greater awareness, training, or accountability can prevent another tragedy, then we hope something meaningful comes from this.”
Rosales found unresponsive after going missing, police said
On July 10, 2025, Rosales went missing during a day at the beach with friends. According to a press release from the Naperville Police Department at the time, he “had entered the water with a group of friends with the intent to swim to a floating dock in the middle of the deep end.”…