PATROL HAS DUTIES ON WATERWAYS

Established 32 years ago, the Missouri State Water Patrol is most often associated with patrolling Missouri lakes and rivers.

But the agency also provides assistance for Missouri law enforcement agencies in their crime investigations.

In Cape Girardeau last week, police were confronted with evidence that a vehicle had plunged into the Mississippi River at the Union Electric Co. water plant pump station.

The Missouri Water Patrol was called in to retrieve the vehicle, which turned out to be stolen from Poplar Bluff. Such ventures aren't uncommon for the patrol, said Capt. Jim Bradford, supervisor of the patrol's District 4 in Southeast Missouri.

"On Saturday, a couple of my divers went up and dove for a murder weapon, and (today) we're going to Charleston to do the same thing," Bradford said.

"Twice this spring we helped Butler County get evidence out of the river there. So we get quite a bit of those types of calls."

The water patrol divers also retrieved weapons suspected in murders this year at Greenville, Lake Wappapello and Butler County.

Bradford said the water patrol was started in 1959 to coincide with the development of several lakes in Missouri. He said the agency's primary task is to promote water safety.

"Now our responsibilities range from checking safety equipment that's required for boats, to getting involved with law enforcement agencies and doing dives for them or assisting them in man hunts," he said.

Bradford said some of the rural counties where the lakes were built need the help, where for years law enforcement was accomplished with only a sheriff and two deputies.

The water patrol officers work at various lakes and rivers around the state, but the dive team remains ready to respond to calls from law enforcement agencies. When the call came last week for a job in Cape Girardeau, Bradford said he knew the task would be formidable.

"We were called in by Chief Boyd who thought possibly there might be a body in this car," he said. "They just had evidence that the car had gone in.

"We went over to the spot and it wasn't particularly deep it was probably 35 to 40 feet deep but the current was extremely swift."

Bradford said the toughest obstacles for the divers are the depth of the water and the current.

He said the vehicle, which was pinned against some rocks, also produced its own turbulence. But the swift current and eddies swirling around the vehicle weren't the only factors divers had to contend with.

Bradford said divers literally had to feel their way to the vehicle in virtual darkness of the murky river.

"The visibility in the Mississippi is about two inches it's terrible," he said. "You basically feel your way around while the current's driving against you.

"The one in Cape was a tough dive really tough. You can kind of work with not being able to see, but that, coupled with the swift current, made this job particularly difficult."

The patrol's work impressed Cape Girardeau Police Chief Howard "Butch" Boyd.

"I was just awed," he said. "A lot of the work they do I'm sure is in impounded waters, like a quarry or lake like working in the bathtub.

"This wasn't like that. The current is fast, and this car was deep and it would move on them. Also, eddies formed by the car would slam them up against it whenever they got close, and of course it was dark so they couldn't see anything.

"I can't imagine working in any more difficult circumstances and they acted like it was a routine job."

The water patrol divers who participated in the Cape Girardeau dive were Rad Talburt, Stan Warner, Tommy Roan and Dave Wall. Mike Smith, a former deputy with the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department, operated the boat used to retrieve the vehicle.