Post by Purebred Redneck on May 9, 2008 12:49:39 GMT -5
Team dedicates season to drowned hunter
By Kim Bell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/08/2008
Keith Fietsam
(Handout)
The State Water Patrol has stopped dragging the Missouri River near Chesterfield and will no longer use sonar imaging equipment in its search for the body of a Lincoln County turkey hunter whose canoe capsized Tuesday.
Instead, the patrol will scale back its efforts to only periodic surface searches until the body of 27-year-old Keith Fietsam is found.
"Unfortunately, that's the route we have to go," Lou Amighetti of the Missouri Water Patrol said this morning. "The main search is over. We've exhausted all of our site scan ability and dragging ability."
Fietsam, of Winfield, Mo., was last seen bobbing up and down in the river about 5 a.m. Tuesday near the Howell Island Conservation Area in St. Charles County. He and his hunting partner, Leo Geringer, 48, of St. Peters, had tried to cross the water in a 15-foot fiberglass Coleman canoe to get to the island for hunting before sunrise. Geringer clung to the capsized canoe and made it to shore. Neither man wore a life vest.
Meanwhile, the ballplayers Fietsam coached on the junior varsity baseball team at Lutheran South High School plan to dedicate the rest of their season to Fietsam.
Early this year, Fietsam started as head coach for the Lutheran South's j.v. baseball team in Affton. He led the team to a 15-1 record, including winning the conference championship and the Westminster tournament.
Mark Probst, athletic director at Lutheran South, said the team has decided to play the rest of the season -- two more tournaments -- in honor of Fietsam.
"The young man had made a real impact on these young men," Probst said. "He had a real passion for the game of baseball. He was just, really, a good teacher."
Fietsam played baseball as a student at Belleville East high school and then at Lindenwood University, where he later was a graduate assistant for the university's baseball team. He and his wife, Katie, were married 2 1/2 years ago. They had no children.
On the Missouri River, searchers spent 14 hours Tuesday and about 12 hours Wednesday searching for Fietsam. At its peak, the search consisted of four boats, four water patrol officers and about a half dozen firefighters from High Ridge. Three boats were held together to drag an area about 18 feet wide.
"We made over 30 passes in one specific area where he was last seen, and we turned up nothing," Amighetti said. "We scanned an area that's about the size of two football fields."
The river had a lot of debris, some trash but mostly timber. That's typical because of springtime flooding. Water levels had dropped Wednesday, which helped the searchers. The water they were searching in had a sandbar shelf, but in other areas it was about 20 to 35 feet deep. A sonar imaging device picked up trees, timber and an occasional tire. "In most cases, all we were seeing was a sandy bottom," he said.
Because of increased water levels Tuesday on the Missouri River, the causeway leading to the island was flooded. There was no way to walk to the island. Water was moving rapidly at what's called the Centaur Chute. The canoe got swept into the swirling waters and turned over.
The entire chute is about 500 feet across and more than a mile long, Amighetti said.
While searchers were looking for Fietsam on Wednesday, several hunters were crossing the waters to head to the island. A few were in kayaks, others in canoes. "It's a popular place," Amighetti said.
Amighetti urges hunters to wear their life vests. The vests for Fietsam and Geringer were left in the canoe, he said.
"In general, we have cases where they forget to put it on or think their swimming ability will save them," Amighetti said.
Amighetti has warned the family of possible scenarios, including that Fietsam's body will resurface soon or perhaps never. "We have some bodies at Tablerock that have never surfaced," he said. "It would be almost a waiting game at this point."
Now that the dragging efforts have been called off, Amighetti said one or perhaps two water patrol officers will go by the area periodically to see if Fietsam surfaces. "They'll make periodic surface searches throughout the day and upcoming weeks until he is found," he said.
yeah, that was a stupid idea. People crossed it in kayaks
By Kim Bell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/08/2008
Keith Fietsam
(Handout)
The State Water Patrol has stopped dragging the Missouri River near Chesterfield and will no longer use sonar imaging equipment in its search for the body of a Lincoln County turkey hunter whose canoe capsized Tuesday.
Instead, the patrol will scale back its efforts to only periodic surface searches until the body of 27-year-old Keith Fietsam is found.
"Unfortunately, that's the route we have to go," Lou Amighetti of the Missouri Water Patrol said this morning. "The main search is over. We've exhausted all of our site scan ability and dragging ability."
Fietsam, of Winfield, Mo., was last seen bobbing up and down in the river about 5 a.m. Tuesday near the Howell Island Conservation Area in St. Charles County. He and his hunting partner, Leo Geringer, 48, of St. Peters, had tried to cross the water in a 15-foot fiberglass Coleman canoe to get to the island for hunting before sunrise. Geringer clung to the capsized canoe and made it to shore. Neither man wore a life vest.
Meanwhile, the ballplayers Fietsam coached on the junior varsity baseball team at Lutheran South High School plan to dedicate the rest of their season to Fietsam.
Early this year, Fietsam started as head coach for the Lutheran South's j.v. baseball team in Affton. He led the team to a 15-1 record, including winning the conference championship and the Westminster tournament.
Mark Probst, athletic director at Lutheran South, said the team has decided to play the rest of the season -- two more tournaments -- in honor of Fietsam.
"The young man had made a real impact on these young men," Probst said. "He had a real passion for the game of baseball. He was just, really, a good teacher."
Fietsam played baseball as a student at Belleville East high school and then at Lindenwood University, where he later was a graduate assistant for the university's baseball team. He and his wife, Katie, were married 2 1/2 years ago. They had no children.
On the Missouri River, searchers spent 14 hours Tuesday and about 12 hours Wednesday searching for Fietsam. At its peak, the search consisted of four boats, four water patrol officers and about a half dozen firefighters from High Ridge. Three boats were held together to drag an area about 18 feet wide.
"We made over 30 passes in one specific area where he was last seen, and we turned up nothing," Amighetti said. "We scanned an area that's about the size of two football fields."
The river had a lot of debris, some trash but mostly timber. That's typical because of springtime flooding. Water levels had dropped Wednesday, which helped the searchers. The water they were searching in had a sandbar shelf, but in other areas it was about 20 to 35 feet deep. A sonar imaging device picked up trees, timber and an occasional tire. "In most cases, all we were seeing was a sandy bottom," he said.
Because of increased water levels Tuesday on the Missouri River, the causeway leading to the island was flooded. There was no way to walk to the island. Water was moving rapidly at what's called the Centaur Chute. The canoe got swept into the swirling waters and turned over.
The entire chute is about 500 feet across and more than a mile long, Amighetti said.
While searchers were looking for Fietsam on Wednesday, several hunters were crossing the waters to head to the island. A few were in kayaks, others in canoes. "It's a popular place," Amighetti said.
Amighetti urges hunters to wear their life vests. The vests for Fietsam and Geringer were left in the canoe, he said.
"In general, we have cases where they forget to put it on or think their swimming ability will save them," Amighetti said.
Amighetti has warned the family of possible scenarios, including that Fietsam's body will resurface soon or perhaps never. "We have some bodies at Tablerock that have never surfaced," he said. "It would be almost a waiting game at this point."
Now that the dragging efforts have been called off, Amighetti said one or perhaps two water patrol officers will go by the area periodically to see if Fietsam surfaces. "They'll make periodic surface searches throughout the day and upcoming weeks until he is found," he said.
yeah, that was a stupid idea. People crossed it in kayaks
