BLOOMINGTON - A 61-year-old Decatur man found dead in a submerged car in Evergreen Lake on Tuesday was being sought by police for allegedly violating his probation on a domestic battery charge. | Decatur police's missing person flier (PDF)

Gerald C. McKinnon, a registered sex offender with a history of mental health problems, was last seen Feb. 20 and was reported missing March 1.

Gerald C. McKinnon

Illinois Department of Natural Resources workers testing sonar equipment found the submerged vehicle Tuesday morning about 100 feet from a boat launch, said McLean County Coroner Beth Kimmerling. A deceased young dog was found with him in the back seat of the Ford Focus, Kimmerling said.

McKinnon died of drowning with no obvious signs of trauma, she said. The coroner's office will examine the car's crash-data recorder to help determine if the car entered the lake on accident or deliberately, she said.

The water temperature was between 46 and 50 degrees Tuesday, she said. It's possible the car had been submerged for several weeks, she said. More tests have been ordered.

McKinnon left the Heritage Behavioral Health Center - an inpatient treatment facility in Decatur - on Feb. 19, said Decatur Police Lt. David Dickerson on Wednesday.

The next day, a Ford dealership in Decatur gave McKinnon the white Focus as a loaner car while his own vehicle was being repaired, he said.

He was reported missing March 1, Kimmerling said. The Focus was then reported stolen March 11, Dickerson said.

Police were told he had bipolar disorder and was not using his medication, Dickerson said. He was getting disability payments and did not have a known history of suicide attempts, Kimmerling said.

A warrant for McKinnon's arrest was issued March 12 for allegedly violating conditions of his probation on a 2008 domestic battery charge, according to Macon County court records. An order of protection also was in effect for the female victim in that case, Dickerson said.

In a separate case, McKinnon was found guilty in 2000 of one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a 13-year-old victim. He completed two years probation, court records show.

But when McKinnon left the Decatur health center last month, he failed to give a new address, which was a violation of his registration requirements as a sex offender.

McKinnon was married with two adult children, Kimmerling said.