SILOAM SPRINGS -- A Gentry man drowned Friday during a fishing trip on the Illinois River about 3 miles east of Siloam Springs.
Benton County Dive Team members found the body of Timothy Clements, 18, at 9:05 a.m. Saturday, about 200 yards down river from where the incident occurred, according to Daniel Oxford, Benton County coroner.
Oxford labeled the death an "accidental drowning."
On Friday night, emergency crews were called about a possible drowning along Old Highway 68, just south of U.S. 412, said DeWayne Hixson, assistant team leader with the dive team.
"We were out here last night for three or four hours," Hixson said.
Divers returned Saturday morning to search the river.
Oxford said he was notified of a drowning at 7 p.m. Friday. Oxford said family members told him Clements was trying to get a fishing line untangled and fell in. Family members on the river bank attempted to rescue him.
Clements' body was taken to Wasson Funeral Home in Siloam Springs.
Family and friends waited Saturday morning while dive teams searched the river using inflatable boats and dive gear.
Siloam Springs' Fire Department had a swift-water rescue team helping the dive team.
Mother tells of accident
Clements' mother, Heidi Migliori of Gentry, said Saturday that crews were looking for her son. She said she almost lost her husband, Anthony Migliori, and three other people on a family fishing trip.
According to a post on her Facebook page early Saturday morning, Heidi Migliori said her son was part of a large group fishing on the Illinois River on Friday afternoon.
She said her son was "fetching a pole that broke in the water and was swept under."
Several rescue attempts were made for her son by Anthony Migliori, she wrote on Facebook.
"Anthony, Timothy, Theresa, Tait, Terrun and a friend from church went fishing on the Illinois River this afternoon," the Facebook post states. "Timothy was fetching a pole that broke in the water and was swept under, Anthony dove in after him and several times had him but then he got chest pains and couldn't get him. Tait saw that Anthony was in trouble and went in after him."
She wrote on Facebook that she wasn't there when the incident happened, so what she knows is secondhand.
"I know with all my heart that Anthony did all he could to save Timothy," she wrote. "Even if he had (been) physically fit, he would have found a way to get him. The Lord called his faithful servant home tonight to be with him. He had passed all his tests on this earth and is now a chosen Angel in the heavens watching over us. I love my son dearly, but I am at peace tonight. Search and rescue have done their best and the diving team as well. They will resume their search for his body in the morning. This is a difficult time but the Lord will not give us anything we cannot handle.
"Love to everyone, I am not sure how often I will respond to well wishers and prayer givers but know that you are in our hearts as you read this."
General News on 06/04/2014