Man dies after boat capsizes on Truman Lake

A Kansas City man died Monday night after his boat capsized on Truman Lake.

Willard E. Roper, 40, was pronounced dead at Golden Valley Memorial Hospital in Clinton on Monday night after being stranded in the lake for more than three hours. Roper was running trout lines out of a 16-foot V-bottom boat driven by Larry D. Dean, 51, of Kansas City, when the boat capsized, said Henry County Sheriff’s Maj. Robert Hills. 

Hills said high winds and rough waters likely caused the boat to overturn and contributed to the difficulty to men had in reaching safety.

“With how rough the water was, with the wind and the size of the boat, they could not turn it over or get to safety,” Hills said.

The Henry County Sheriff’s Department dispatched Sgt. Tim Eaton to Sparrowfoot boat ramp, south of Clinton, just after 5:30 p.m. A boater who had picked up Dean as he was clinging to a tree contacted authorities to inform them about the capsize and that Roper was still missing.

The boat likely capsized about three hours prior to the sheriff’s office receiving the report, Hills said.

Sgt. Eaton coordinated search-and-rescue efforts, and went out in a private boat along with a paramedic from Golden Valley Memorial Hospital Ambulance. After searching for about an hour, they discovered Roper’s body about one mile south from where the boat had capsized. Roper was still wearing a life preserver but did not have a pulse.

Missouri State Water Patrol personnel assisted in recovering Roper and began performing CPR. Because “a lot of times with a cold water rescue the blood leaves those extremities,” authorities provide emergency medical care until a victim is transported to a hospital, Hills said.

Henry County Coroner Dain Sisk said Roper died of hypothermia from being exposed to the nearly 50-degree water for an extended period of time.

Dean was also transported to Golden Valley Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released.

A Golden Valley Memorial Hospital Ambulance, the Deepwater Fire Department, Missouri State Water Patrol, Missouri Department of Conservation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Missouri State Highway Patrol assisted the Henry County Sheriff’s Department in responding to the accident.