Keokuk Volunteer Emergency Corps members resumed the Mississippi River search for Rick Lorenz Thursday evening after spending much of the afternoon searching above the Keokuk dam for his boat. The corps searched downriver until dark, finding debris that was identified by a Lorenz family member as pieces of the “Havin’ Fun Now.”
Debris from a boat last seen being driven by a Keokuk man who’s been missing since Wednesday night, has been recovered on the Mississippi River.
Keokuk Volunteer Emergency Corps Chief Kevin Baker said this morning his group found the debris Thursday night between Gregory Landing, Mo., and Fenway Landing near Canton, Mo.
“Family members confirmed it was the missing boat,” Baker said. “DNR brought it to them last night at Alexandria, Mo.”
Rick Lorenz, 57, left the Keokuk Yacht Club in his mother’s boat at about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, according to his mother, Pauline Lorenz.
She hadn’t any idea that he was gone, and spent all of Thursday at the club waiting for word about her son.
Pauline decided Thursday evening that because the search had moved to south of the Keokuk dam, she would go to her cabin in Alexandria, to be closer.
When the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which had been searching along with the Volunteer Corps, brought the boat pieces to her, Pauline was able to identify a cushion, a life jacket and the boat debris.
“Yeah, it was my boat,” she said. “But they haven’t found him. I need to find him. I need to find him.
“It’s so hard, so hard. I’m having a hard time with it.”
Pauline said Rick’s dog, ZuZu, a timberwolf, also is missing.
“She was a sweetheart,” she said. “She was his life.”
Pauline is extremely appreciative of the search effort everyone has put into recovering the debris, and is thankful they continue looking for her son.
Pauline’s daughter and partner are with her today.
Investigation, search
Lorenz left the yacht club driving the “Havin’ Fun Now,” an all white, 27-foot Cuddy Crownline with gold graphics.
He turned upriver to Koehler Addition and left there at 10 to 10:30 p.m. Wednesday to return to Keokuk, Pauline said.
Koehler Addition is north of Keokuk near Montrose.
“We didn’t know about it,” Pauline said Thursday.
She got her first inkling that something was wrong when the people Lorenz works with came to the house Thursday morning and asked where he was.
Pauline called 911 at about 11 a.m. and reported that her son and boat were missing.
“It’s a good-sized boat,” she said. “I can’t imagine what’s happened.”
Keokuk Police Chief Dave Hinton said a LeeComm dispatcher notified his department about a missing person at 11:25 a.m. Thursday. Officers looked around the area and did some interviews.
“When we found out where he was last seen, we asked a deputy to look for him,” Hinton said.
The yacht club and Koehler Addition are in the county’s jurisdiction.
A Lee County Sheriff’s deputy noted that Lorenz’s vehicle was parked at the yacht club Thursday, but the boat was gone.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Keokuk Volunteer Emergency Corps put boats in the water Thursday afternoon and searched above the dam for Rick Lorenz.
At about 6 p.m., Baker said his group, which had two boats manned, had found nothing above the Keokuk dam, and were preparing to look for Lorenz and the boat below the dam and downriver.
They launched a search boat at about 6:15 p.m. at Southside Boat Club and another launched at Fenway Landing. Baker said they would search until it was dark.
“It’s too dangerous after dark,” Baker said. “It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.”
Lee County Chief Deputy Scott Bonar said this morning the search of the Mississippi River will resume.
Baker said the Volunteer Corps will be able to help in the search for Lorenz Saturday.
Call the Keokuk Police Department at 524-2741, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at 524-1414 or Pauline Lorenz at 319-795-1965 with any information about the matter.
