United Cajun Navy details dangerous Texas flood rescues one year after Camp Mystic
United Cajun Navy Incident Commander Josh Gill and meteorologist Amy Metz described harrowing rescue efforts during deadly flooding in Texas, where two people have been killed. Both said emergency readiness has improved since last year’s devastating Camp Mystic floods, which claimed 28 lives, but warned that conditions can turn dangerous with stunning speed. The Guadalupe River’s 32-foot rise in just four hours, they said, underscores the need for constant vigilance.
An Arkansas police officer drowned after jumping into a river to rescue his fiancée only hours after he had proposed to her, her mother said.
Fred Marsh, a 24-year-old officer with the Rogers Police Department, went into Missouri’s Elk River on Saturday to help a swimmer in trouble and did not come back up, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The swimmer was later identified by the woman’s mother as Marsh’s fiancée, Hailey. Authorities recovered Marsh on Sunday and pronounced him dead, one day after he had asked Hailey to marry him Saturday morning.
“They had been together for three beautiful years, and they had a very beautiful, loving relationship,” Sheryl Padgett told KHBS. “Even though legally he was not my son-in-law, he will forever be my son.”
Marsh and Hailey, who had been a couple for three years, were canoeing with another couple near Noel, Missouri, when Hailey got into the river and began fighting the current as she tried to make her way back to the boat.
Fred Marsh entered the Elk River on Saturday and was found Sunday, just one day after proposing to his fiancée, Hailey, that morning. (GoFundMe)
Padgett said Marsh and another Rogers police officer who was on the outing immediately went into the water to reach Hailey. They managed to get her to safety, but Marsh became exhausted and began struggling before slipping beneath the surface, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.
“He saw the love of his life in distress, and he was going to help his friend and do what a good human would do,” Padgett said. “He gave his life helping someone else.”
Padgett said Marsh was loving, hardworking and guided by his Christian faith, emphasizing that he never hesitated when someone needed help.
“There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for anyone,” Padgett said. “You didn’t have to tell him. You didn’t have to beg him. He just was willing and would jump in there and do whatever it took to help someone.”
Padgett said she had lost her only son in a fatal accident four years earlier. She began calling Marsh her son soon after he started dating her daughter.
Fred Marsh and his fiancée, Hailey, had been together for three years. (GoFundMe)
“We instantly made a connection and a bond,” she said. “I called him son, and he called me mama.”
A motorcade escorted Marsh’s body through Northwest Arkansas on Monday as people lined up along the route to honor him. Padgett said the response from law enforcement and the community showed the impact Marsh had made on many others.
“They made it very clear that Fred was not just their family, but so was my daughter, my family and, even more importantly, Fred’s family,” Padgett said.
Marsh was in his first year with the Rogers Police Department. He graduated from the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy in April and only recently started working as an officer.
Fred Marsh was in his first year with the Rogers Police Department. (GoFundMe)
A GoFundMe created for Hailey by her sister to cover her lease, bills and other unforeseen expenses has raised nearly $2,000 as of Thursday morning.
“Fred was an upstanding young man- Son, Fiancée, Officer, Brother, Friend, and more to all. We are devastated and will miss him dearly,” the fundraiser reads.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Marsh’s family, and Padgett said the family expects officers, former classmates, childhood friends and others from across the state to attend.
“Let’s do something in Fred’s honor,” Padgett said. “Be kind to your fellow man. When Fred loved, he loved with everything he had, and he loved well.”
