Holy Angel rescues man from Mississippi River

Crew members of the tugboat Holy Angel are being called heroes after rescuing a 22-year-old Cape Girardeau man from the Mississippi River south of Cape Girardeau. The rescue took place about 7 a.m. Thursday.

Gordon Putzke of Excell Marine Corp., the company that owns the tugboat that was pushing cement barges owned by Buzzi Unicem, said the crew saw a man holding onto a log, waving at them, at about mile 40 of the river near Thebes, Ill. He said the boat had to go back for the man ­-- a difficult maneuver in the swollen river. The river was expected to crest Friday evening at 44.7 feet in Cape Girardeau.

"He was fine," Putzke said. "They pulled him on the boat, and he was fine and conscious. These guys train for this all the time."

Capt. Kenneth Kinder of the Scott County Sheriff's Department identified the man as Dalton Toombs.

"The guy involved, he was alert, he was conscious, he was mobile," Kinder said.

He said personnel from North Scott County Ambulance District examined the man's vital signs.

"He refused treatment," Kinder said. "His family was there, and he was reunited with them."

The Cape Girardeau Fire and Rescue Squad met the tugboat and picked up Toombs, then brought him upstream. The squad was met by the Scott County deputies and the ambulance in an area south of Route AB, near Tower Rock Quarry.

Kinder said Toombs was in the water overnight. He declined to say how the man ended up in the river.

"We're very happy that he came out safely," he said. "It could have been a lot worse."

Toombs, a member of the 1140th Engineer Batallion of the Missouri National Guard, in February became a three-time winner in the welterweight class in the National Guard Combatives Tournament at Lincoln University. He also is an instructor at BJJ & Fitness in Cape Girardeau -- attributes that may have helped him survive his ordeal.

Toombs was not immediately available for comment.

Kinder said Toombs' reunion with his family was "very happy, very emotional."

While Putzke initially downplayed the role the crew played, he admitted it went a bit beyond normal circumstances.

"These guys, I would consider them heroes," he said. "It's appropriate the name of the boat is the Holy Angel. Someone was living right."

jpulliam@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address: Mississippi River, mile 40