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SEARCH CONTINUES FOR MAN WHO FELL IN RIVER
MISSING PERSON IS A 26-YEAR-OLD ILLINOISAN
The Belleville [IL] News-Democrat - April 17, 2001
By Will Buss
Authorities on Monday were still looking for a man who witnesses said fell into the Mississippi River on Sunday afternoon while fishing on a concrete pier near the Chain of Rocks Bridge.
Capt. Bob Hennicke of the St. Louis Fire Department would not reveal the man's identity, but said the missing man is 26 years old and from Illinois.
Hennicke said the fire department launched its marine unit's boats in an attempted rescue mission soon after they received the call but never found the man. Hennicke said the marine unit returned to the river Monday for what has turned into a body recovery effort.
Capt. Mark Ottis of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources' law enforcement office in Alton said eyewitnesses told him they saw the missing man fishing right off the low water dam, a popular fishing area located off the Illinois shore, before he fell in the river sometime after 4 p.m.
Divers from the Bubblemasters Underwater Rescue Team in Granite City made dives into the river Sunday evening looking for the man. BURT Chief Tim Underhill said three divers took turns below the river's surface for about 30 to 45 minutes searching for the man's body.
The diving team returned Monday afternoon to resume their search near the area where the man was last seen. Underhill said divers had no visibility underwater and had to rely on feeling their way around. Underhill also said the area divers were searching was about 25 feet deep and had a current of about 10 mph.
He also said the water was about 50 degrees and that with those conditions, hypothermia would have set in within minutes.
"You're not going to find a worse place than here," Underhill said. "Even if he was an excellent swimmer, he might not make it. If I fell off, I'd be scared."
Copyright © 2001 The Belleville News-Democrat - Record Number: 0104170054
MISSING PERSON IS A 26-YEAR-OLD ILLINOISAN
The Belleville [IL] News-Democrat - April 17, 2001
By Will Buss
Authorities on Monday were still looking for a man who witnesses said fell into the Mississippi River on Sunday afternoon while fishing on a concrete pier near the Chain of Rocks Bridge.
Capt. Bob Hennicke of the St. Louis Fire Department would not reveal the man's identity, but said the missing man is 26 years old and from Illinois.
Hennicke said the fire department launched its marine unit's boats in an attempted rescue mission soon after they received the call but never found the man. Hennicke said the marine unit returned to the river Monday for what has turned into a body recovery effort.
Capt. Mark Ottis of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources' law enforcement office in Alton said eyewitnesses told him they saw the missing man fishing right off the low water dam, a popular fishing area located off the Illinois shore, before he fell in the river sometime after 4 p.m.
Divers from the Bubblemasters Underwater Rescue Team in Granite City made dives into the river Sunday evening looking for the man. BURT Chief Tim Underhill said three divers took turns below the river's surface for about 30 to 45 minutes searching for the man's body.
The diving team returned Monday afternoon to resume their search near the area where the man was last seen. Underhill said divers had no visibility underwater and had to rely on feeling their way around. Underhill also said the area divers were searching was about 25 feet deep and had a current of about 10 mph.
He also said the water was about 50 degrees and that with those conditions, hypothermia would have set in within minutes.
"You're not going to find a worse place than here," Underhill said. "Even if he was an excellent swimmer, he might not make it. If I fell off, I'd be scared."
Copyright © 2001 The Belleville News-Democrat - Record Number: 0104170054
Divers search dangerous stretch of river for missing man
The [Alton, IL] Telegraph - April 17, 2001
By SHAWN CLUBB, Telegraph staff writer
MITCHELL -- Divers searched unsuccessfully Monday for the body of a man who went into the Mississippi River at the Low Water Dam area of Chouteau Island, below the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. At about 3:30 p.m. Monday, a diver from Bubblemasters Underwater Recovery Team submerged himself in the cold, swift water near a concrete cell in the river, which was close to becoming submerged itself in the rising waters. Other BURT team members assisted the diver with a tether line and stayed in radio contact with him as he looked for the body of a man who apparently was swept under Sunday afternoon after going off the cell.
Reports concerning the man's identity and the circumstances of his apparent drowning still were sketchy at press time Monday, although Scott Crawford of Twin Rivers Search and Rescue said reports indicated the victim was a white male.
Tim Underhill of BURT said some people on shore saw the man go off the cell into the water and the strong current. He said they tried to throw the man a rope, but it wasn't long enough. He said they saw him go under the surface not far from the cell.
Crawford said his agency was called out to assist BURT at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, but the search was called off about 9:30 p.m. after weather conditions became tough.
"The conditions were rough last night. It was hard to even put a boat in that area," Crawford said. "Right before we discontinued the search, it started raining pretty good right there at the end. The current there was an issue, too."
Capt. Mark Ottis of the Illinois Conservation Police said his agency was involved with the search Sunday, as were the Illinois State Police and Missouri Water Patrol. Crawford said the Alton Voluntary Emergency Corps also was notified to bring assistance.
Ottis said that particular spot in the river is a problem for people who fall in and for searchers.
"It's such a difficult spot," Ottis said. "We can't drag. You really can't get a boat up in there close enough."
Underhill said the speed of the current, plus an eddy current that sweeps back, makes it particularly dangerous.
"It's real swift. As far as the river goes, you're not going to find a worse place than right here," he said as he prepared to send his diver in.
Ottis said there wasn't much chance for the victim's survival.
"We're convinced there's a body in the water out there," Ottis said.
Underhill agreed.
"If a person fell off the end of there, if he wasn't an excellent swimmer, even if he was, he wouldn't make it," Underhill said.
Although the crews coped with rain Sunday, the major difficulty Monday was a strong wind. However, Underhill said the wind was only making the water look more intimidating. Searchers from Twin Rivers were planning to aid in the efforts late Monday.
Copyright © 2001 The Telegraph
The [Alton, IL] Telegraph - April 17, 2001
By SHAWN CLUBB, Telegraph staff writer
MITCHELL -- Divers searched unsuccessfully Monday for the body of a man who went into the Mississippi River at the Low Water Dam area of Chouteau Island, below the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. At about 3:30 p.m. Monday, a diver from Bubblemasters Underwater Recovery Team submerged himself in the cold, swift water near a concrete cell in the river, which was close to becoming submerged itself in the rising waters. Other BURT team members assisted the diver with a tether line and stayed in radio contact with him as he looked for the body of a man who apparently was swept under Sunday afternoon after going off the cell.
Reports concerning the man's identity and the circumstances of his apparent drowning still were sketchy at press time Monday, although Scott Crawford of Twin Rivers Search and Rescue said reports indicated the victim was a white male.
Tim Underhill of BURT said some people on shore saw the man go off the cell into the water and the strong current. He said they tried to throw the man a rope, but it wasn't long enough. He said they saw him go under the surface not far from the cell.
Crawford said his agency was called out to assist BURT at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, but the search was called off about 9:30 p.m. after weather conditions became tough.
"The conditions were rough last night. It was hard to even put a boat in that area," Crawford said. "Right before we discontinued the search, it started raining pretty good right there at the end. The current there was an issue, too."
Capt. Mark Ottis of the Illinois Conservation Police said his agency was involved with the search Sunday, as were the Illinois State Police and Missouri Water Patrol. Crawford said the Alton Voluntary Emergency Corps also was notified to bring assistance.
Ottis said that particular spot in the river is a problem for people who fall in and for searchers.
"It's such a difficult spot," Ottis said. "We can't drag. You really can't get a boat up in there close enough."
Underhill said the speed of the current, plus an eddy current that sweeps back, makes it particularly dangerous.
"It's real swift. As far as the river goes, you're not going to find a worse place than right here," he said as he prepared to send his diver in.
Ottis said there wasn't much chance for the victim's survival.
"We're convinced there's a body in the water out there," Ottis said.
Underhill agreed.
"If a person fell off the end of there, if he wasn't an excellent swimmer, even if he was, he wouldn't make it," Underhill said.
Although the crews coped with rain Sunday, the major difficulty Monday was a strong wind. However, Underhill said the wind was only making the water look more intimidating. Searchers from Twin Rivers were planning to aid in the efforts late Monday.
Copyright © 2001 The Telegraph
Man escapes from car after plunge into pond
The [Alton, IL] Telegraph - March 29, 2001
By THOMAS WRAUSMANN, Jerseyville bureau chief
JERSEYVILLE -- An 18-year-old Alton resident escaped from a submerged car, which he accidentally drove into a deep pond on a cold Tuesday evening in rural Jerseyville. John T. Garrison was driving the 1978 Ford LTD about 9:35 p.m. Tuesday when the car approached a curve to the right on Old Fidelity Road, close to the Jerseyville city limits.
Instead of turning, the car went straight and traveled about 150 feet across a field and into the pond, said officials from the Jersey County Sheriff's Department. The pond is near the intersection of East Pearl Street.
Garrison apparently was traveling alone, officials said. The car is registered to Isa D. Surratt of East Alton.
Jersey County Sheriff Paul Cunningham said Garrison allegedly had been drinking heavily. However, Cunningham said charges had not been filed late Wednesday.
Garrison, who apparently was suffering from hypothermia and moderate injuries, was treated at Jersey Community Hospital in Jerseyville and released. His body temperature had fallen to 91 degrees, officials said.
Cunningham said he wasn't sure how Garrison escaped from the car or whether it was submerged when he got out.
"I'm assuming he was probably under," the sheriff said.
Divers from the Bubblemasters Underwater Recovery Team located the car Wednesday afternoon and hooked it to a tow cable. Bowers Towing of Godfrey pulled it from the bottom of the murky pond.
An empty child safety seat could be seen in the back seat when the car emerged.
"That's scary to see a car seat in there," Todd Bowers of Bowers Towing said.
The car was found toward the opposite end of the pond. It took two alternating divers more than 30 minutes to find the vehicle. Some parts of the pond were more than 10 feet deep. The crew on land communicated with the divers via radio.
Bubblemasters crew members said the car could have been going so fast it ended up at the other end of the pond. However, it could have floated a long distance when Garrison pushed off to escape. The divers said they were glad to see that no one was in the vehicle.
"Good job," Bubblemasters Chief Tim Underhill told the group of volunteers. The team is based in Madison County. One of the divers was Chad Wagner, a former Jerseyville resident.
Copyright © 2001 The Telegraph
The [Alton, IL] Telegraph - March 29, 2001
By THOMAS WRAUSMANN, Jerseyville bureau chief
JERSEYVILLE -- An 18-year-old Alton resident escaped from a submerged car, which he accidentally drove into a deep pond on a cold Tuesday evening in rural Jerseyville. John T. Garrison was driving the 1978 Ford LTD about 9:35 p.m. Tuesday when the car approached a curve to the right on Old Fidelity Road, close to the Jerseyville city limits.
Instead of turning, the car went straight and traveled about 150 feet across a field and into the pond, said officials from the Jersey County Sheriff's Department. The pond is near the intersection of East Pearl Street.
Garrison apparently was traveling alone, officials said. The car is registered to Isa D. Surratt of East Alton.
Jersey County Sheriff Paul Cunningham said Garrison allegedly had been drinking heavily. However, Cunningham said charges had not been filed late Wednesday.
Garrison, who apparently was suffering from hypothermia and moderate injuries, was treated at Jersey Community Hospital in Jerseyville and released. His body temperature had fallen to 91 degrees, officials said.
Cunningham said he wasn't sure how Garrison escaped from the car or whether it was submerged when he got out.
"I'm assuming he was probably under," the sheriff said.
Divers from the Bubblemasters Underwater Recovery Team located the car Wednesday afternoon and hooked it to a tow cable. Bowers Towing of Godfrey pulled it from the bottom of the murky pond.
An empty child safety seat could be seen in the back seat when the car emerged.
"That's scary to see a car seat in there," Todd Bowers of Bowers Towing said.
The car was found toward the opposite end of the pond. It took two alternating divers more than 30 minutes to find the vehicle. Some parts of the pond were more than 10 feet deep. The crew on land communicated with the divers via radio.
Bubblemasters crew members said the car could have been going so fast it ended up at the other end of the pond. However, it could have floated a long distance when Garrison pushed off to escape. The divers said they were glad to see that no one was in the vehicle.
"Good job," Bubblemasters Chief Tim Underhill told the group of volunteers. The team is based in Madison County. One of the divers was Chad Wagner, a former Jerseyville resident.
Copyright © 2001 The Telegraph
PLANE CRASHES IN RIVER NEAR GRAFTON; WOMAN DIES
MAN IS MISSING, PRESUMED DEAD
St. Louis [MO] Post-Dispatch - August 31, 2000
By Sue Hurley
Trisha Howard Of The Post-Dispatch Contributed To This Story.
A woman is dead and a man is missing and presumed dead after their single-engine plane plunged into the Mississippi River Wednesday morning near Grafton.
Rescue crews worked into the night looking for the man. The body of the woman, 50, was pulled from the river soon after the crash.
Authorities said the couple were from Florida and once lived in St. Charles. Authorities declined to identify them until relatives were notified.
Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were at the scene Wednesday afternoon to investigate the crash.
Dense fog could have contributed, said state and local investigators at the scene.
The single-engine plane took off from Smartt Field in St. Charles County about 9:30 a.m.
The crash was reported about 9:45 a.m. by Sarah Ringhausen of Jerseyville, who was driving on the Great River Road.
She stopped at the nearby Raging Rivers Water Park and asked staff to call the police.
By the time she returned to the site of the crash - three-tenths of a mile east of the Grafton Visitors Center on Illinois Route 100 - there was little evidence that anything had happened.
"If you looked down the river, you couldn't see anything," Ringhausen said. "If I hadn't seen it go in, I don't know when somebody would have realized" there was a crash.
Three Raging Rivers employees, equipped with two rescue tubes, went to the crash site. Debris littered the water, but Diana Shelton, the park's aquatic director, saw no signs of life.
Part-time commercial fisherman Bob Crank had just arrived at the Grafton boat launching ramp when two city employees arrived and told him about the crash. The three men, riding in Crank's boat, were the first to arrive at the crash site.
The men pulled the woman's body from the water and took it to the riverbank, where an ambulance was waiting. She was pronounced dead at 11:20 a.m.
The search for the man's body was conducted by a U.S. Coast Guard rescue cutter and emergency officials from the Alton Volunteer Emergency Corps and the Bubblemasters Underwater Rescue Team.
Copyright © 2000 St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Record Number: 0008310403
MAN IS MISSING, PRESUMED DEAD
St. Louis [MO] Post-Dispatch - August 31, 2000
By Sue Hurley
Trisha Howard Of The Post-Dispatch Contributed To This Story.
A woman is dead and a man is missing and presumed dead after their single-engine plane plunged into the Mississippi River Wednesday morning near Grafton.
Rescue crews worked into the night looking for the man. The body of the woman, 50, was pulled from the river soon after the crash.
Authorities said the couple were from Florida and once lived in St. Charles. Authorities declined to identify them until relatives were notified.
Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were at the scene Wednesday afternoon to investigate the crash.
Dense fog could have contributed, said state and local investigators at the scene.
The single-engine plane took off from Smartt Field in St. Charles County about 9:30 a.m.
The crash was reported about 9:45 a.m. by Sarah Ringhausen of Jerseyville, who was driving on the Great River Road.
She stopped at the nearby Raging Rivers Water Park and asked staff to call the police.
By the time she returned to the site of the crash - three-tenths of a mile east of the Grafton Visitors Center on Illinois Route 100 - there was little evidence that anything had happened.
"If you looked down the river, you couldn't see anything," Ringhausen said. "If I hadn't seen it go in, I don't know when somebody would have realized" there was a crash.
Three Raging Rivers employees, equipped with two rescue tubes, went to the crash site. Debris littered the water, but Diana Shelton, the park's aquatic director, saw no signs of life.
Part-time commercial fisherman Bob Crank had just arrived at the Grafton boat launching ramp when two city employees arrived and told him about the crash. The three men, riding in Crank's boat, were the first to arrive at the crash site.
The men pulled the woman's body from the water and took it to the riverbank, where an ambulance was waiting. She was pronounced dead at 11:20 a.m.
The search for the man's body was conducted by a U.S. Coast Guard rescue cutter and emergency officials from the Alton Volunteer Emergency Corps and the Bubblemasters Underwater Rescue Team.
Copyright © 2000 St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Record Number: 0008310403
Divers comb river unsuccessfully
The [Alton, IL] Telegraph - February 02, 2001
By SARAH K. HALL, Telegraph staff writer
HARTFORD -- Divers dragged, combed and felt along the bottom of the Mississippi River in an unsuccessful search for a possible submerged vehicle Thursday. The search effort involved the Alton Volunteer Emergency Corps and the Bubblemasters Underwater Rescue Team from Mitchell. Brian Carter, an AVEC team member, said the searchers planned to return to the scene Saturday morning to make another effort, weather and ice conditions on the river permitting.
Illinois State Police troopers on the scene said someone had called in and reported tire tracks leading to the river near the mouth of the Cahokia Diversion Canal, at the Lewis and Clark Historic Site just south of the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The scene is in Hartford, just west of the intersection of Illinois Route 3 and New Poag Road.
Police said they believed it was possible someone had rolled a stolen car into the river to get rid of it.
"Our investigative unit will come out with them (Saturday)," said Trooper Ralph Timmins, a spokesman for State Police District 11, with headquarters in Collinsville. "We don't want to speculate about what happened, but we also don't want to treat it mildly in the event it is a crime or a cover-up."
AVEC members launched two boats and cast large magnets into the water to try to detect anything metal on the bottom. They later used a drag to search when the magnets didn't pick up anything.
The divers used the "Braille" method of feeling their way around the bottom of the river, hoping to stumble upon the vehicle, Carter said.
"We don't know for sure what's down there," he said. "We just got called out here because someone noticed the tracks. We can't even be sure it's a car. Someone could have even rolled a trailer down there."
Along with the tire tracks, there was broken plastic from what appeared to be the car's taillights scattered on the pavement of the circle drive that leads to the historical monument.
Police also recovered what appeared to be a casing from a .45-caliber weapon. Police said people fire off weapons in the area from time to time, and they weren't sure whether the casing was related to the incident.
Members of the Salvation Army provided meals for the searchers at the scene.
Copyright © 2001 The Telegraph
The [Alton, IL] Telegraph - February 02, 2001
By SARAH K. HALL, Telegraph staff writer
HARTFORD -- Divers dragged, combed and felt along the bottom of the Mississippi River in an unsuccessful search for a possible submerged vehicle Thursday. The search effort involved the Alton Volunteer Emergency Corps and the Bubblemasters Underwater Rescue Team from Mitchell. Brian Carter, an AVEC team member, said the searchers planned to return to the scene Saturday morning to make another effort, weather and ice conditions on the river permitting.
Illinois State Police troopers on the scene said someone had called in and reported tire tracks leading to the river near the mouth of the Cahokia Diversion Canal, at the Lewis and Clark Historic Site just south of the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The scene is in Hartford, just west of the intersection of Illinois Route 3 and New Poag Road.
Police said they believed it was possible someone had rolled a stolen car into the river to get rid of it.
"Our investigative unit will come out with them (Saturday)," said Trooper Ralph Timmins, a spokesman for State Police District 11, with headquarters in Collinsville. "We don't want to speculate about what happened, but we also don't want to treat it mildly in the event it is a crime or a cover-up."
AVEC members launched two boats and cast large magnets into the water to try to detect anything metal on the bottom. They later used a drag to search when the magnets didn't pick up anything.
The divers used the "Braille" method of feeling their way around the bottom of the river, hoping to stumble upon the vehicle, Carter said.
"We don't know for sure what's down there," he said. "We just got called out here because someone noticed the tracks. We can't even be sure it's a car. Someone could have even rolled a trailer down there."
Along with the tire tracks, there was broken plastic from what appeared to be the car's taillights scattered on the pavement of the circle drive that leads to the historical monument.
Police also recovered what appeared to be a casing from a .45-caliber weapon. Police said people fire off weapons in the area from time to time, and they weren't sure whether the casing was related to the incident.
Members of the Salvation Army provided meals for the searchers at the scene.
Copyright © 2001 The Telegraph