GUTTENBERG, Iowa – On Thursday, October 18, around 3:00 p.m., a 911 caller advised he located a body in the Mississippi River.
The body was recovered from Sand Cut, just west of Jack Oak Road on the Wisconsin side of the river. The body was transported to the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny for an autopsy.
The autopsy confirmed the body is that of John Roe, 56, of Burlington, Wisconsin and the cause of death to be drowning and manner classified as accidental.
On October 6, searching began for a missing boater believed to be in the Mississippi River near Pool 11.
The Cassville Fire Department responded to a call of a boat spinning in circles in the main channel north of the Cassville Ferry Landing. Firefighters were able to ram the circling boat and pull the safety lanyard to stop the motor. The boat came to rest on the shoreline north of Cassville.
Later, information was received that a 56 year old man from Burlington, Wisconsin was believed to be out boating by himself and went missing. Investigators believe the man likely fell out of the boat and was not wearing a personal floatation device.
These search and response efforts are in conjunction with many agencies including the Iowa DNR, Wisconsin DNR, Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol, Wisconsin State Patrol, Guttenberg Fire Department, Guttenberg Police Department, Grant County Sheriff’s Office, Glen Haven Fire Department, and the Cassville Fire Department.