HARRISON COUNTY, Iowa – On Saturday, October 19, at approximately 9:13am, divers with the Midwest Regional Dive Team recovered the body of a Nebraska kayaker and hunter that was missing since Friday evening.
The body has been identified as Cody Bengford, 33, of Bellevue, Nebraska. The body has since been transported to the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny for an autopsy.
Investigators believe Bengford left the boat ramp at the Nobles Lake Wildlife Management Area on Friday afternoon to head out for a bow hunt in the Desoto National Wildlife Refuge. Bengford was reported missing that evening after he didn’t return. Two DNR Conservation Officers responded and began search and rescue efforts. Bengford’s overturned kayak was recovered a short time later along the north shoreline of the lake, however his body was not found. Search and rescue operations were suspended at 1:46am and resumed around 7:00am Saturday morning.
DNR Conservation Officers were assisted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Council Bluffs Fire Department, Harrison and Shelby County sheriff's offices, Harrison and Shelby County Emergency Management, Missouri Valley Fire and Rescue, Modale Fire Department, Midwest Regional Dive Team, and the Iowa State Patrol.