A 41-year-old father has been found dead two days after rescuing his children from the raging currents of the Mississippi River, the Sherbourne Sheriff’s Department announced on Facebook.
On the afternoon of July 12, Minnesota resident Cody Jay Pope was swimming with his 10-year-old daughter and six-year-old son on a sandbar when “the two children began struggling in the current.” Pope was able to grab his daughter out of the water and hoist her back onto the sandbar before jumping into the water to rescue his son.
Pope “was able to support” his son in the water “for a short time,” during which he was able to push the child up onto the sandbar with his sister. Pope then “disappeared under the water.” The children told firefighters and police that their father was missing when authorities arrived on the scene to extricate them from the river.
"I feel so bad, it was just awful," a witness told KMST Fox 9. "I was shaking by the time this thing was over, because this poor little child, she was watching her dad."
On Sunday morning, authorities located Pope’s body in the Mississippi River. Pope’s partner and the children’s mother, Cheryl Holzknecht, wrote in her own Facebook post on Sunday afternoon.
“I will spend the rest of my life missing Cody. He was an amazing daddy and a true hero in his last moments,” Holzknecht wrote. “I don’t know how I will make it without him, he was my rock and did so much for anyone and everyone he knew. Such a selfless human and gone far, far too soon. Our family is being lifted up by so many right now and we see you and appreciate every last one of you.”
A GoFundMe fundraiser launched by one of Pope’s family members has amassed over $4,000 of its projected $12,000 goal.
"He’s a hero. I mean he’s absolutely a hero," Pope's neighbor told Fox. "My heart breaks for him, for the family."
