Two Missouri men dead after fishing accident near Leon

LEON — A father and son have died following an ice fishing incident Sunday west of Leon that took regional dive units 7 hours to complete.

David Adair, 63, and Joe Adair, 33, of Knob Noster, Missouri, fell through the ice while fishing about 200 feet from shore at Little River Lake in Decatur County Sunday afternoon. According to a Decatur County Sheriff press release, at approximately 2 p.m., the sheriff's office received a call from a subject reporting someone had fallen through the ice at Little River Lake. A Leon rescue team responded to the scene around 2:15 p.m.

However, thin ice made attempts at a rescue difficult.

"It was enough that if you weighed 130 pounds or you weighed 230 pounds, it wouldn't hold you," said Decatur County Sheriff Bert Muir. "Most of the firemen in their dry suits went through the ice. All of them had ropes tied to them and were pulled back out. Once they got 100 feet offshore, that ice out there couldn't hold anything."

After calling in the Mount Ayr and Red Oak dive teams, crews were able to rescue David Adair around 3 p.m. He was unconscious and airlifted to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines, where Muir said he was later pronounced dead.

At 8:45 p.m., a Council Bluffs team arrived with a hovercraft and, within 15 minutes, recovered the body of Joe Adair, who had gone underwater about 7 feet. The body was taken to the medical examiner at Decatur County Hospital and pronounced dead.
Both men had ice fished many times on Little River Lake.

Also assisting with this incident were Leon Rescue, Clarinda Fire Department, Iowa State Patrol, Decatur County Conservation, State of Iowa Conservation, Lamoni Police Department, Leon Police Department and Mercy Life Flight.

Muir said five men went to the emergency room following the rescue, most of them for dehydration. Leon Fire Chief Doug Moffett dislocated his shoulder, and another man sustained a hit in the chest from the ice and was flown to Des Moines under suspicion he had sustained a heart attack. Muir said he is now doing OK.

Moffett, an ice fisherman himself, said he does not recommend going out on any ice.
"It had been 50 degrees one day down here," he said. "Our ice down here is dark. Anytime you see dark ice you don't need to be on it."

Muir said it's been 21 years since anyone has drowned while ice fishing at Little River Lake.

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• Original story: Published 11:00 a.m. Monday

LEON — At least one man has died after two fishermen fell through the ice Sunday afternoon at Little River Lake west of Leon.

Leon Fire Chief Doug Moffett said the fire department received a call around 2 p.m. Sunday that two men had fallen through the ice. Leon, Corning, Red Oak and Mount Ayr dive teams responded to the scene. Council Bluffs was called and would arrive later.

Moffett, who also ice fishes, said warm temperatures had made the ice too thin, and the rescue team could hear it cracking as they worked.

“When we got there, we were able to hear them and everything, but due to the ice it was hard to get to them,” Moffett said.

Moffett said the first man was recovered within a few hours. He was unconscious and was airlifted from the scene to Des Moines, where his condition is unknown at this time.

At about 9 p.m., a Council Bluffs team arrived with a hovercraft. Moffett said they were then able to bring up the body of the second man in about 10 minutes after Council Bluffs arrived. The body was taken to the medical examiner at Decatur County Hospital. The names of both men have not yet been released.

Moffett said he does not recommend going out on the ice at this time.

“It had been 50 degrees one day down here,” he said. “Our ice down here is dark. Anytime you see dark ice you don’t need to be on it.”

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