Rural Missouri - June 2020 - 47

Doug Rader, the sheriff of Stone County. His deputies and
Kimberling City police ofﬁcers were in pursuit of a stolen
truck on Highway DD, which dead ends at Coney Island.
"I was on my way to the scene and heard the suspect
had stopped and ran by foot into the water," the sheriff
says. "He was about 30 to 40 yards out and was not
obeying verbal commands."
Water rescue crews were contacted, but
Doug says the time he thought it might take
them to get there was time the man in the
extremely cold water didn't have. He knew David and Marlana - who own a bowﬁshing boat
outﬁtted with LED lights - lived about one-half
mile from the scene.
Reeds
"When I called him, all I told him was that I
needed a boat right away. There was a suspect
in the water at Coney Island," the sheriff says.
"All he said was, 'I'm on the way.' "
The Byrnes bolted out of bed, hooked up their boat and
had it in the water within 20 minutes. The plan was for
David to pick up a deputy for the rescue. However, upon
arriving at the scene and seeing the suspect barely above
water, he told his friend they didn't have any time to spare.
Marlana backed the boat into the water and David was

off. It was about a mile ride to reach the suspect. Once assured that the suspect wasn't any danger, David grabbed
the man and pulled him to safety and the awaiting ofﬁcers
and deputies.
"David was only out there for probably a few minutes,"
Sheriff Rader says. "It just seemed like eternity because we
knew the man didn't have much time left."
David's comfort level on the water and quick-thinking
ability undoubtedly helped the man survive. Life on the
water is in his blood. His father was a Water Patrol
sergeant at Table Rock Lake for 30 years.
"Everything just kind of worked out perfectly.
It happened right near our home, I had the right
kind of boat and Doug knew he could call me,"
Spring
David says, before chuckling. "Well, perfect
other than the guy didn't need to be in that
position in the ﬁrst place."
Doug agrees that everyone's collective actions
helped save a life that evening. "I'm pretty sure that guy
would have drowned if it didn't work out the way it did,"
he says. "The water temperature was in the low 50s. The
guy wasn't in great shape and was in the water for 30 or 40
minutes. Dave went way above and beyond that night. He's
a hero."

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Rural Missouri - June 2020

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