Emergency personnel respond to a town of Rock home at 6500 Edgewater Drive after a report of a woman who fell through the ice on the Rock River on Friday. Authorities recovered her body hours later after what a Rock County Sheriffs Office captain referred to as an extremely high-risk operation in the frigid waters.
KYLIE BALK-YAATENEN 69蹤獲 staff
Emergency personnel respond to a town of Rock home at 6500 Edgewater Drive after a report of a woman who fell through the ice on the Rock River on Friday. Authorities recovered her body hours later after what a Rock County Sheriffs Office captain referred to as an extremely high-risk operation in the frigid waters.
Emergency personnel respond to a town of Rock home at 6500 Edgewater Drive after a report of a woman who fell through the ice on the Rock River on Friday.
Emergency personnel respond to a town of Rock home at 6500 Edgewater Drive after a report of a woman who fell through the ice on the Rock River on Friday.
Emergency personnel respond to a town of Rock home at 6500 Edgewater Drive after a report of a woman who fell through the ice on the Rock River on Friday.
This article has been updated with new information.
TOWN OF ROCKThe body of a 57-year-old woman who fell through the ice south of Janesville on Friday has been recovered from the Rock River.
In a release about 7:30 p.m. Friday, the Rock County Sheriffs Office said she had been recovered from under the ice-covered river and turned over to the Rock County Medical Examiners Office.
The womans body was recovered about 5:30 p.m., after a more than 5-hour search.
The incident remains under investigation. The womans name has not been released.
Emergency crews from the Rock and Jefferson county sheriffs offices, Beloit police, and fire departments from Janesville, Beloit, Fontana and the town of Beloit braved bitter cold weather and what one authority called extreme risk Friday afternoon to search for the woman who broke through the ice about 11:45 a.m Friday and went into the frigid Rock River.
The scene is about 8 miles south of Janesville, behind a house at 6500 S. Edgewater Drive, on the west side of the river.
By about 2 p.m., Capt. Mark Thompson of the Rock County Sheriffs Office told a reporter on the scene that authorities had shifted their focus to recovering the womans body.
The local temperature Friday afternoon hovered at about minus-2 degrees, with a wind chill at times of minus-37 and sustained winds of 26 mph, gusting stronger at times.
A neighbor told a 69蹤獲 reporter she believed based on text messages back and forth between neighbors that the woman went onto the ice shortly before noon to retrieve a pet and then fell through.
The call came into emergency authorities about 11:45 a.m., according to Friday nights release.
Another neighbor who lives next door to the scene, James Pete, told a 69蹤獲 reporter that the female neighbor who lives on the property where authorities were staging a search Friday owns three large dogs.
The 69蹤獲 could not confirm whether a dog also fell through the ice.
Pete said the stretch of the Rock River that runs past the neighborhood has a fast and strong current and an undertow and seldom freezes over in the winter.
Its got to be below zero for this part of the river to freeze, Pete said, pointing out a window from inside his home, at a point on the river where the ice was thin enough to see open areas of water.
Fire and rescue crews from the city and town of Beloit along with sheriffs officials arrived shortly after noon Friday. The sheriffs department at that time characterized the scene as initially an active water rescue, that then shifted to a recovery.
The Janesville Fire Department arrived at the scene at 1:40 p.m. in an incident command vehicle and brought a dive and rescue unit. Dive teams from the Rock and Jefferson county sheriffs offices and Janesville Fire Department were involved.
Divers in extreme cold water wetsuits were actively staging from the backyard of whats believed to be the womans home.
Thompson referred to the water search as an extremely high-risk operation.
Obviously, our goal is to recover this woman so that her family can have some peace of mind, Thompson said about 2:30 p.m. But we have to worry about our firefighters and officers that are going to be at some risk in the recovery unit.
To view our latest eEdition, click the image on the left.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
