The Page County Sheriff’s Office has released the identity of a man who died while floating down the East Nishnabotha River during the late evening hours of July 8th and the early morning hours of July 9th. On Monday (July 13th), authorities said the man was 53-year old David Wayne Long, of Shenandoah. His body was sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny, for autopsy. An investigation into the incident remains open, pending results of the Autopsy.

(As previously reported):

Deputies and numerous rescue crews responded to a call for help early Thursday morning (July 9), about a man who was floating on the East Nishnabotna River who had become unresponsive. The 9-1-1 call to the PageComm Dispatch Center came in at around 1:12-a.m., from a 44-year old female. The woman said she had been floating with a 53-year old man on the river since 8-p.m. Wednesday. She said that they were north of Essex.

Numerous agencies were dispatched to the large area. It was determined from the phone calls that the female and the male were on the East Nishnabotna River between the bridges on 110th ST and D Avenue,  north of Essex. Due to accessibility issues associated with the area, the rescue operation took some time, as there is no boat access within several miles.

When the woman and her companion were located at around 3-a.m. Thursday, the man was deceased. The Page County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in the search /recovery effort by the Essex Fire & Rescue, Red oak Fire & Rescue, Corning Fire & Rescue, Mt. Ayr Fire & Rescue, Clarinda Fire & rescue, Shenandoah Police Department, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County EMA, Page County EMA, Midwest Regional Dive Team, Iowa DNR as well as local citizens with knowledge of the river in the area.