Mystery runner helps save Illinois mayor from frozen lake

CHICAGO (AP) — A mystery good Samaritan helped save an 80-year-old Illinois mayor who fell through thin ice on a lake while trying to save his dog.

Homewood Mayor Richard Hofeld said he was walking his dogs with his wife on Sunday in the southern Chicago suburb when one dog fell into the partially frozen lake at Izaak Walton Preserve.

Hofeld had left his cellphone in his vehicle and couldn't call for help. He said he fell into the lake while lifting his 100-pound dog out of the water, but he couldn't save himself.

"Every time I tried to get up onto the ice, the ice broke and I went under," he said. "I was just treading water.