First responders search the Illinois River Monday, Aug. 19, after reports of a man entering the water and not resurfacing. The individual was later identified as 89-year-old Roger Hatcher of Pearl. (Submitted photo)
By Steven Spencer
The man who drowned in the Illinois River last Monday, Aug. 19, after attempting to retrieve his boat has been identified as Roger Hatcher, 89, of Pearl, Illinois.
The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department stated in a press release that West Central 911 Dispatched notified them at 7:11 a.m. Monday morning that Hatcher had entered the river at the Kampsville boat launch to retrieve his boat from the water and had not resurfaced.
First responders were told by a witness at the scene that Hatcher had entered the water after the rope holding his boat snapped and the boat floated off into the river.
A Greene County Deputy Sheriff was the first to arrive on scene and was soon assisted by first responders from Calhoun Volunteer EMS, North Calhoun Fire Department, Morgan County Dive Team, Illinois Conservation Police, Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, Pike County Sheriff Department and Calhoun County Emergency Services Disaster Agency.
Once on scene the Illinois Conservation Police and the North Calhoun Fire Department deployed boats to begin search efforts, and were then joined by the Morgan County Dive Team who entered the river in a sonar boat in an attempt to locate Hatcher.
Search efforts continued throughout the day with dive teams entering the water and at approximately 6:40 p.m. a local fisherman assisted with the search with his boat equipped with additional sonar. Soon after, divers from the Morgan County Dive Team entered the water once again and located and retrieved Hatcher.
“The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank all of the agencies that assisted in the search efforts, as well as the local citizens that volunteered efforts to assist in the location of the deceased,” the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. “We would also like to thank Northside Grocery for providing sandwiches and drinks for the incident responders.”