Search teams have recovered the body of a missing Cedar Rapids man who drowned Tuesday in the Wapsipinicon River in eastern Iowa. Officials say Jergen Ratashak was fishing in the river near Central City when he went under.
Bonnie Trembley was camping near the river when it all happened. She says, “I was sitting outside and I heard someone hollering in the river… and then I heard the lady saying he went under.” Paul Boies was also camping nearby, and says, “Pretty shocking, because mostly the river is shallow everywhere.” Dillan Sackett says the river is shallow, but can be deceiving. Sackett says, “There’s a lot of places on this river. I used to live on it, and it goes up and down everywhere.”
The search for Ratashak’s body lasted nearly five hours. Officials have not determined why Ratashak went under. They do say, however, the water is deeper in the middle, and he could’ve gotten tangled in something below the surface.