A Waterloo man who was rescued from the Wapsipinicon River in Independence last week during RAGBRAI has now died. Sixty-two-old Rich Droste had been participating in RAGBRAI, which made an overnight stop in Independence on Thursday. Droste was swimming in the Wapsi when he apparently got caught in the current upstream from the dam.
He was spotted floating unconscious in the water. Another RAGBRAI rider rescued Droste from the river and performed C-P-R. Drosted was taken to the Independence hospital and then transferred to Waterloo, where he reportedly died last night. Droste was a well-known businessman in Waterloo, where he owned Droste Auto and Glass.