Woman rescued at Palisades tells of ordeal; ranger warns of river's danger

UPDATE: Searchers Tuesday recovered the body of a man who drowned while helping rescue two children in the Cedar River Sunday night.

The Linn County Sheriff's Office says 41-year-old Jonathan Jones from Lisbon disappeared in the river while trying to save the children from dangerous currents.

The incident happened around 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Palisades-Kepler State Park, just west of Mount Vernon on Highway 30.

Kujtime Ajro of Cedar Rapids also jumped in the water to rescue the children. The two boys are her friend's children. She says it all happened in an instant.

“A man nearby fishing jumped in the water first,” Ajro said. “The mother is yelling ‘Do something, do something!'”

Ajro says she swam out to the boys, but had trouble holding on to them and started to go under the water.

“I was just telling the boy ‘you have to stay with me',” she said.

Ajro said more people ran to help, and a woman even tossed her an empty water jug to help her swim back to the shore. Eventually, both she and the two children were pulled from the water.

“I'm so grateful to them. I would love to see them again and give them a hug,” she said.

Ajro says she never saw signs warning of the river's strong current, but park ranger Jim Hansen says they are posted throughout the park.

“There's only so much we can do to be honest," Hansen said. "It's not a designated beach. We of course do try and patrol when there are a lot of people out here, and keep an eye on things, and do the best we can with that.”

Hansen says the river's depth is unpredictable and the current can be deceiving. There have been other drownings at Palisades-Kepler over the past several years.

Hansen said the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has never banned swimming in natural bodies of water, and he's not sure if the department ever will. He says that's why people need to be aware of the risk they take anytime they get in the river.

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