Search crews from Iowa and Nebraska are combing the Missouri River for a missing boater in the Sioux City/Dakota City area.
Alan Foster, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says a 21-foot pleasure boat carrying three people ran into trouble on the Iowa side of the river about 11 o’clock on Saturday night. Foster says the boat hit an erosion control dike, went up and over it, “dumped the boat” and ejected all three people into the water.
One boater, identified only as a 21-year-old man, was last seen swimming toward shore. Foster says the other two people were lucky. A couple of Dakota City catfish fishermen saw the accident happen, saw the sparks from the collision and heard the screams for help. Foster says the anglers came to the immediate rescue, which is fortunate as the two people they took aboard were struggling quite a bit.
Foster says it appears none of the three were wearing floatation devices but the fishermen moved fast and saved a man and a woman, both 29-years-old. The anglers got there quickly and got those two out of the water and Foster says the third person was apparently swimming to shore and they expected to find him on shore but when they got back, he wasn’t there.
The two people who were rescued suffered minor injuries and were treated on the scene. A Coast Guard Auxiliary crew and Dakota City, Nebraska Fire and Rescue crews are searching today (Monday) for the missing man. Foster could not release any names and could not say where any of the three were from, nor in which state the boat was registered.