Drowning victim identified

A man that fell into the Chippewa River early Tuesday evening, June 24 has been identified as 60-year-old Richard Boettcher of rural Mondovi.

Boettcher had accompanied his son and another individiual on a fishing outing to an area of the Chippewa River located in the Dunn County Township of Peru just northwest of Durand.

Boettcher, who was not fishing, fell down the riverbank as he was trying to get up and leave. When he did not return to the vehicle, his son and the other individual went to look for him and discovered him floating in the water around 6:30 pm.

They pulled Boettcher from the water and began resuscitation. Rescue units continued life-saving efforts when they arrived at the scene but were unable to revive Boettcher, who was pronounced dead at 7:25 pm.

The Dunn County Chief Medical Examiner said that the preliminary investigation pointed toward accidental drowning as the cause of death.