Car plunged into the Des Plaines in March 1995

 The last major search of the Des Plaines River was back in March 1995, when two men in their early 20s disappeared.

The body of Patrick M. O'Brien, 21, of Shorewood was found the day after a car he was in drove off the Jackson Street bridge.

The second occupant, 22-year-old Kenneth O. Gerdes of Orland Park, was not found for eight days after the car plunged off the bridge. Police were tipped off when a Harrah's paramedic spotted Gerdes' body floating near the Northern Star casino boat.

Investigators located people who had been with the men in three area bars before 2 a.m. March 14, the day their car was later spotted plunging into the river. Investigators also knew that O'Brien and Gerdes boarded a Harrah's casino boat about 3 a.m.

According to authorities, their car went under the closed, flashing safety gates at the upright Jackson Street bridge and into the river around 5 a.m. the next morning.

A Ruby Street bridge tender was the only one to see the accident, police said.