Emergency crews pull out truck from river near Cooper’s Landing

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Rescue crews from Boone County spent Wednesday afternoon near Cooper’s Landing working to remove a truck spotted in the Missouri River.

Chuck Leak - assistant fire chief with the Boone County Fire Protection District -- told ABC 17 News before 1 p.m. that rescue crews from several area fire and law enforcement crews arrived and worked to remove a vehicle from the water.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol was able to confirm that no one was in the truck before it was completely pulled from the water.

Law enforcement was able to also confirm that the truck wasn’t stolen or belonging to a missing person.

The truck was involved in an accident in May and the driver was able to escape and the owners filed a police report with MSHP the next day. Nearly four hours after the first call, the truck was out of the water.

The ice and position of the truck made it difficult for first responders to know exactly what they had in front of them.

“There's a lot of dangers there good getting out on an ice shelf is very dangerous,” Leak said. “Getting boats in his water we're only able to get into some of the boat ramps here to be able to launch our boats. And it just made making access to it is pretty difficult.

The ice floating down the river, the rocky steep river bank and the difficulty of trying to find a boat ramp with enough water, but a rescue boat in only added to complex nature of this recovery. 

Once the decision was made that it was a recovery effort, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and crews from I-70 towing worked to get the vehicle removed from the river.

The amount of mud and the position of the truck made for a difficult recovery. A Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper walked out on to the ice to attach the truck to the tow line.

Once the tow rope was connected to the truck…the weight and ice only added to the dangers for the crews working to remove the truck.