Dive Crews Find Body

News

Written by Robin Hixson

Wednesday, 24 June 2009 08:00

Dive crews found the body of a 59-year-old Garnett man inside a truck submerged in the Marais des Cygnes River on Thursday morning after receiving reports of the vehicle crashing into the water along U.S. Highway 169 just north of Osawatomie.

Rescue workers prepare to search for a submerged truck in the Marais des Cygnes River. (Photo by Robin Hixson)

David G. Evans was reportedly driving a 2005 Nissan Frontier north on U.S. 169 just north of the Osawatomie Main Street exit at 6 a.m. Thursday when he started to drive through the grassy center median and onto the southbound shoulder before continuing northbound in the median and finally driving off into the Marais des Cygnes River, according to a Kansas Highway Patrol report.

Evans’ body was taken to KU Medical Center. He was wearing a seat belt. Osawatomie Police and Kansas Highway Patrol officials worked the scene. The cause of the accident has not yet been released.
The Osawatomie Police Department reported rescue teams found Evans’ body inside the truck at 9:50 a.m.

Osawatomie Assistant Police Chief Bob Butters said a motorist who witnessed the accident called in a report, and the city’s fire and rescue unit was dispatched to the scene at 6:06 a.m. The Overland Park Dive Team was called in for the search because the Miami County Water Rescue Team is trained to handle fast-water rescues, not diving. The Miami County team did, however, perform advance preparation and equipment set-up for the Overland Park team.

At 8 a.m., oil rising to the water’s surface under the northbound bridge marked where the vehicle rested on the river bottom. A trail, starting nearly a city block to the south, showed where the vehicle left the northbound pavement of U.S. 169, entered the grass median, crossed briefly to the edge of the southbound lanes, then veered back into the median and down the rocky slope between the bridges and into the water.

— Staff writer Brian McCauley contributed to this report.

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