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Jul 5, 2009 12:09 pm US/Central
Minn. Family Hit Twice By Tragedy
RED WING, Minn. (AP) ―
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Robert More lived on a houseboat that was anchored in a back channel of the Mississippi River. (File)
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Duane More was hoping he could have funerals for both his sons at the same time, but it was not to be.
The Blue Earth, Minn., man and his wife were in Alaska at the end of March, caring for their dying son, when they got a tragic phone call: Their other son, Robert More, had disappeared near the Mississippi River in Hager City, Wis., and was presumed dead.
On Friday, the Mores buried their son Dennis, who died on June 19. Duane More said it's been an emotionally draining few months.
"It's something," he said. "I don't know how you explain it."
Robert More was last seen leaving Mr. Sippi Bar in Hager City at about 1 a.m. on Saturday, March 28. He lived on a nearby houseboat that was anchored in a back channel of the Mississippi River.
By that Saturday afternoon, rescue teams and divers were searching the back channel and nearby parts of the river. They called off the search after three days because of high water, cold temperatures and fast currents.
But Tom Bauer, an investigator for the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, said he's been out in a boat looking about five times since then, and that officials from the county, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Goodhue County, Minn., water patrollers have all been regularly combing the back channel area.
"We're kind of drawing at straws figuring out what to do from here," Bauer said. He said it's unusual for a body to go missing in the river this long if investigators have a good idea of where it went in.
Duane More said his son moved to the houseboat a few years ago, after his wife died of cancer. "He was more at peace there than he was at his house," Duane said. "He was in love with that boat."
Duane More said the family doesn't want to close Robert's personal affairs and hold a funeral service until his body is found.
"We'd like to find his body so we could have closure on this," he said.
But, he added, "You don't know on a river like that. All we can do is wait."
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Blue Earth is about 130 miles southwest of Minneapolis.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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