Lightning kills Fil-Am student

CHICAGO – A Filipino-American high school student was struck dead by lightning while strolling through O’Brien Park in Downers Grove.

Police said a witness saw Jeannie Dizon lying on the ground after lighting struck Thursday afternoon. The witness came to help her but she was unresponsive.

The 17-year-old was pronounced dead on the spot. The DuPage County Coroner’s report said her death was caused by “electrocution due to lightning strike.”

Dizon dropped off her younger sister and brother at a dentist’s office before she went to the park. Her family said she used to often write in her journal and they believe she went to the park to write.

But an alarm of lightning prediction system sounded in the park before she arrived.

Her younger sister Emmeline said she kept calling her sister’s cell phone for her to pick them up at the dentist’s office but there was no answer.

As the siblings were walking home, they noticed ambulances in the park but they had no idea their sister was struck dead by lightning until police knocked on their door. Their parents were shocked.

Dizon was supposed to graduate from high school yesterday at the Catholic school Benet Academy in nearby suburban Lisle. She planned to study theater at the University of Cincinnati and take a trip to Europe.

She was also supposed to dance a cotillion to celebrate her 18th birthday this June.