The body of an eastern Iowa man was pulled from a lake in southwest Missouri on Sunday. Missouri authorities say 79-year-old Virgil Nemmers of Bellevue, Iowa, was a passenger in a van that lost traction while backing into a boat ramp Saturday night and went into the water of Lake Taneycomo in Branson. Nemmers apparently drown.
The driver of the van, 70-year-old John Erschen of Hazel Green, Wisconsin, was able to get out and swim to safety. Erschen says he saw Nemmers get out on the passenger side but he never made it to land. Divers recovered Nemmers’ body on Sunday about 45-feet from shore.