RIVER CLAIMS SWIMMER; CAPE MAN DROWNS IN MISSISSIPPI

A Cape Girardeau man drowned while swimming in the Mississippi River at the Cape Girardeau waterfront Thursday afternoon.

Witnesses said Dallan Hutson, 22, of Cape Girardeau waded into the river from Cape Girardeau Riverfront Park between Broadway and Themis about 2:30 p.m. He was in the water with two friends, Tommy Latham, 18, of Cape Girardeau and Kim Meinhardt of Granite City, Ill.

Latham said Hutson was swimming when he suddenly went under the water.

A witness who requested anonymity said he saw Hutson go under.

"He yelled for help," said the witness. "It appeared that the second young man attempted to help him, but the man went under the water and was never seen after that."

Latham made it back to the river bank, went to the street and called for help.

Rescue workers from Cape Girardeau, Scott County and Scott City, a Flatiron Construction Co. boat and the towboat Curtis Moore searched the river for about three hours Thursday in an unsuccessful attempt to find Hutson.

Barge traffic was halted for about an hour. Barges passing the area when traffic was allowed to resume were asked to keep a lookout for the man.

Max Jauch, assistant Cape Girardeau fire chief, said the riverfront drops off after about 10 feet into the water, going quickly from shallow to deep.

Jauch said there is no telling where the river might take him or how long it might keep him down.

"It would be a miracle at this point," Jauch said late Thursday of the possibility of finding Hutson alive.

The river coming down from Cape Rock bend encounters the shoreline at Cape Girardeau with considerable force and undertow. That action makes the Mississippi unpredictable here.

(B. Ray Owen, Don Shrubshell and David Angier of the Southeast Missourian contributed to this report.)