TREMPEALEAU, Wis. — A recovery team rappelled down the backside a gate in the Trempealeau dam complex to retrieve a woman’s body that was caught pressed into gate by rapid currents. The body was hoisted 30 feet up, laid on a gurney on the ram top, carried to shore, and transported to Rochester for autopsy. Pending the autopsy, authorities were reluctant to release the victim’s name. The body was believed, however, to be that of 73-yea-old Patricia Sweningson. The woman had been seen last on March 4 on a security camera at Levee Paek in Winona. Divers had been out on the Mississippi River searching for Sweningson the last two weekends between Winona and the dam. There also were shore patrols on the seven-miles stretch of river.
Dangerous mission. The recovery was about 12:30 p.m., five hours after a dam employee saw the body during a routine walk-around inspection. Image: Winona County sheriff
Multi-agency operation at Trempealeau
The recovery effort was complicated and massive. Ben Klinger, the Winna County emergency director, convened several dozen first-responders from multiple agencies. Firefighters from Dakota, Pickwick and Winona were stationed in boats immediately downriver in case anyone in the retrieval team fell into the current. None did. Am airborne Minnesota State Patrol rescue team hovered in a helicopter as stand-hy. First on-scene were Trempealeau County sheriff’s deputies and Trempealeau Village firefighters. The decision was made early not to attempt retrieval by boat. Said Klinger: “Water’s really dangerous right up against the dam.”
Klinger: Winona County emergency management chief.
Earlier: Body found snared in Mississippi dam