The Iowa DNR said Monday, that the body of a boater missing since Sunday afternoon was recovered in the Mississippi River a short distance from where the boat he was in capsized under a roller dam. The body of 33-year old Christopher Corson, of Burlington, was found shortly before 11:30 a.m. Monday.
Corson and 30-year old Anthony Zurmuehlen, of Burlington, were fishing below a roller dam at Lock and Dam 18 when the 14-foot jon boat they were in was pulled under the dam where it rolled over. Zurmuehlen was able to grab on to a log and other debris below the roller dam and work his way to shore where he was eventually discovered by Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Conservation Officer Paul Kay shortly before 3 p.m. on Sunday. He was taken to Great River Medical Center in West Burlington where he was checked and released without injury.
Neither of the boaters were wearing life jackets when the boat capsized. The DNR was assisted at the scene and in the search by the Des Moines County Sheriff’s Department, Henderson County, Ill., Sheriff’s Department, the Illinois DNR Conservation Officer Service; the Des Moines County Conservation Department and Burlington Fire and Rescue. The incident remains under investigation by the Iowa DNR.