Community supports father who drowned in lake
By Greg Payne
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JACKSON COUNTY, Missouri (KCTV) — A morning out on Longview Lake yesterday turned tragic after a father drowned while trying to assist his kids out on the water.
“I mean, it was just…I still cry…I still cry for her,” says Jeannine Battaglio a family friend of the victim.
Battaglio, was fighting tears as she talked about the moment her co-worker and friend, lost the father of her kids.
“He was a wonderful father, wonderful partner. He took care of his family,” says Battaglio.
Even to his death, 38-year-old Christopher Foster was taking care of his family.
Missouri Highway Patrol says Foster, his two kids and their mother were out on the lake early yesterday morning.
Witnesses told police Foster jumped in the water to pull his kids back closer to the boat after they began drifting away, but he never resurfaced.
“His kids were everything, he would bend over backwards. He worked two jobs and he was doing everything to support his family,” says Battaglio.
As the family tries to cope from this tragedy, Battaglio and members of the Price Chopper family — where the mother of Foster’s children works — is now doing everything they can to support them.
That includes creating a GoFundMe Page to raise money for funeral costs and the kids schooling.
“We are just heartbroken and anything anybody can do to help this family would be appreciated,”
Employees at the Price Chopper say they all have collected money to purchase the mother a bunch of groceries to help as well.
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