Photo Courtesy of Des Moines Police
An 11-year-old was identified after drowning in the Raccoon River.
According to a news release, Diamond Mathis, 11, reportedly got off the raft she was on with two other children and went underwater. She did not resurface.
After two days of searching, police officers located Mathis’ body on Friday in the Raccoon River.
Diamond’s mother, Lenay Mathis, has started a GoFundMe for her funeral expenses. The fundraising site has raised almost $9,000 of its $15,000 goal.
The grieving mother said that her daughter had gone to the river without her knowledge and that losing her has been hard on her family. She described Diamond as “kind” and “lovable.”
“Diamond was only 11 years old, and she was a lovable, kind-hearted, free-spirited and beautiful. My daughter has 4 other siblings, and this has been hard on my family. Unfortunately March of this year, I fell behind on their insurance policy. I’m asking for help with her memorial service. Anything will help if you can’t just send a prayer for us,’ Lenay wrote on the GoFundMe page.
Unfortunately, Mathis is not the only young girl to drown in one of Iowa’s waterways.
The Linn County Sheriff’s Office was called on Wednesday afternoon to Palisades-Kepler State Park.
They identified a drowned girl, 11-year-old Zyah Thomas. Police shared an update on Twitter, writing, “Rescuers were unable to locate the body of Zyah Thomas today while searching the Cedar River at Palisades Kepler State Park near Mount Vernon. Today’s search was conducted with boats and divers. Search efforts will resume tomorrow.”
Her body has yet to be found. Diamond’s mother has started a GoFundMe for her funeral expenses.
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Another drowning occurred at Raccoon River earlier this month, making residents of the area concerned about water safety.
The Van Meter Police Department says 34-year-old, Ricco Morrow, was tubing with friends when he saw a woman and her son struggling in the water.
Ricco swam to save both the mother and son, and although he was a hero, he never resurfaced.
His brother said, “They believe he felt himself pulling them down as well, so Ricco let go of the hand and went under, and he never came back up.”
Community activist Rob Johnson said, “There are moments and opportunities for us as a community to say ‘Hey, as a community, we are not ok with losing anybody,’ but we lost two lives that are a part of our community, and we don’t want that to happen to anybody else’s community.”
Van Meter Police Department officials are in favor of adding even more warning signs as extra safety precautions.
We are sending our prayers to the families of those lives lost.