Crews find body of man missing in flood waters, police say

Site staff by Site Contributor

Dive teams and first responders have recovered the body of the man missing in flood waters near Chapel Hill and Regis roads, Madison police said.

Firefighters on scene are calling this a recovery now, not a rescue. They’re starting a second foot search and culvert search in a few minutes. #News3 pic.twitter.com/NDyLffudmh

— Leah Linscheid (@news3leah) August 21, 2018

Fire officials said they responded to a stranded vehicle in the area around 9:07 p.m. Monday night. There were three people trapped in the car, but only two made it to land, officials said.

The man’s body was found around 10:05 a.m. at least one-third of a mile away from the spot where he was last seen, according to a release from the Madison Fire Department.

Bystanders assisted the three occupants out of the vehicle, but only two were pulled to safety, according to a release. The third person, a Madison man in his 70s, was ripped from the hands of a bystander by a strong current in the floodwaters.

One bystander involved in the rescue was Madison alder Matt Phair, who says the moment the man went under was terrifying.

“We were both holding onto him as hard as we could. The water was overwhelming. I knew that if we took a step, my life was in jeopardy too. So we lost him,” Phair said.

Madison police officials said a passerby saw the car nose down in the culvert with water flowing over the windows.

The driver told the passerby he could not open his door, but the passerby was able to open the back door and get the first two people out, police said. The 70-year-old man and driver had gotten out of the car, but the current was too powerful and he got sucked under the car.

Madison first responders said the rainfall made it more difficult to find the man after he had been swept away.

“With the large expanse and how much water was there, it was kind of hard to pinpoint,” said Lt. Cory Reno of the Madison Fire Department. “We were using theories of how water moves and hydraulics, which led us to that point.

Madison alder Matt Phair told News 3 he was one of the bystanders who pulled the two people out of the car.

The three bystanders who helped the people trapped will be nominated for MPD lifesaving awards, police said.

COPYRIGHT 2020 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.