A northwest Iowa man drowned Saturday in the Little Sioux River near Linn Grove. The Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Department says a 9-1-1 call was received about 2:25 Saturday afternoon reporting a boat and a person had gone over the dam on the Little Sioux River.

The sheriff’s office, Sioux Rapids Fire Department, Sioux Rapids ambulance and BVRMC ambulance, the DNR, the state patrol, and Sioux Rapids Police all responded to the scene. Witnesses reported seeing the victim, identified as 61-year-old Robert Wiese of Greenville, go over the dam and disappear under the water about 25 yards below the dam.

Rescue operations began and at about 4:25 Saturday afternoon, the body of the victim was located about a half-mile down river. The body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office in Ankeny for an autopsy. A preliminary investigation indicates Wiese had been attempting to launch a small motor boat into the Little Sioux River about 300 yards up river from the dam.

During the unloading process, Wiese was outside the boat removing it from the trailer, when the boat was caught in the current which took the boat and Wiese into the river. Wiese attempted to keep control of the boat and was swept in the current along with the boat, over the dam.

By Joel Hermann, KAYL, Storm Lake