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.”
Manuel Rosales, pictured, died after being found unresponsive in the water at Centennial Beach in Naperville last summer.
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.”
However, when his friends arrived there, they realized he was not with them, so they searched the area and then notified the lifeguards, the NPD release said.
Around 5:43 p.m., Naperville police responded to a report of a missing person at the beach, and at about 6:06 p.m., lifeguards recovered Rosales from the water, unresponsive. He was later pronounced dead at Endeavor Health Edward Hospital.
Lawsuit claims lack of urgency, unsafe swimming conditions
His family’s lawsuit alleges that the beach’s staff mishandled the report of a missing person once they were notified, and did not treat the incident immediately as a potential submerged person-emergency. It adds that there was a delay in thoroughly searching the water, leaving Rosales submerged for a “prolonged period.”
Per the lawsuit, “land-based missing-person steps, including announcements, bathroom checks, belongings checks, parking-lot or land-area searches,” were conducted, despite lifeguards being told Rosales was last seen in the deep end of the pool, where he was eventually found.
The lawsuit also claims that unsafe swimming conditions contributed to the incident, describing the former quarry-turned-beach as having low visibility and some areas where it could be difficult to notice someone drowning or in need of help.
Lawsuit refers to near-drowning incident from 2018
It references an earlier incident from 2018, involving a then 13-year-old boy, DeAndre Glover, who the lawsuit says nearly drowned at Centennial Beach.
According to the lawsuit, when one of Glover’s friends told lifeguards he was missing underwater, they believed it was a prank and did not immediately employ emergency search measures. When they finally looked for him, he was found at the bottom of the water and was recovered unconscious.
When resuscitated, Glover coughed up debris, the suit alleges. He was taken to the hospital and allegedly suffered from problems like long-term lung function impairment and exertional tolerance.
The lawsuit says after the 2018 incident, better protocols for missing person reports at the beach should have been in place, seeing as the district “knew that delayed recognition, delayed water clearing, delayed underwater search, and delayed resuscitation could cause death or catastrophic injury.”
Now, Rosales’ family says they want to hold the park district accountable while raising awareness.
“Every parent, spouse, and child who visits a public swimming facility this summer deserves to know that aquatic safety is serious business. Lifeguarding requires constant attention, rapid recognition of distress, communication, and immediate action when emergencies arise,” said Edward J. Witas, the family’s attorney, in a statement.
Witas says the family is seeking “damages in excess of the jurisdictional minimum required for filing in the Law Division of the Circuit Court of DuPage County,” but said their main focus is on “accountability, transparency,” and preventing similar incidents in the future.
The lawsuit is scheduled for a status hearing in court on July 15.
Naperville Park District says incident was an ‘unfortunate accident’
In a statement, the Naperville Park District offered condolences to Rosales’ family while maintaining that his death was accidental.
“We remain deeply saddened for the family and loved ones of Manuel Rosales. The police report for the July 10, 2025, incident confirms this was an unfortunate accident, and the Park District is incredibly supportive and proud of the rescue efforts taken by its lifeguards and other Beach employees,” said Brad Wilson, executive director of the Naperville Park District.
The district did not comment further on the lawsuit or emergency response procedures in place during the incident.
The lawsuit comes just before Memorial Day weekend and the day before the beach is set to reopen for the 2026 summer season.
If you have a story idea, we want to hear from you!
