Area man drowns in Missouri River

ST. HELENA — Funeral services are planned for Friday for a St. Helena man who was found dead last week in the Missouri River.

Roy Reichle, 61, St. Helena, apparently went hiking Tuesday along the south shore of the Missouri River, near the Meridian Bridge, at Yankton, S.D.

Reichle was known to be an avid hiker.

He did not return home and was reported missing Wednesday morning.

After a lengthy search by area law enforcement and rescue personnel, his body was found at about 12:30 p.m., Thursday, in a hole in the ice on a back channel of the river, a National Park Service spokesman said.

Reichle's wife, Brenda, used a Cedar County News Facebook news brief to thank everyone for all their effort and hard work in looking for her husband.

Multiple agencies assisted in the search: the National Park Service; the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission; Nebraska State Patrol troopers, including the Aviation Support and Police Service Dog Divisions; South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks; Yankton County Emergency Management; the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office; Cedar County Emergency Management; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Crofton Volunteer Fire and Rescue; and the Wynot Fire Department.

A complete obituary can be found inside this week's Cedar County News.