Former area man swept into river after canoe capsizes
West grad was member of '97 baseball team
BY RICKEENA J. RICHARDS
News-Democrat
WILDWOOD, Mo. --
Missouri State Water Patrol crews ended Day 1 of their search for a 27-year-old man, formerly of Millstadt, who was swept into the Missouri River on Tuesday morning after his canoe capsized.Keith Fietsam, who public records show lived in Millstadt before relocating to his current O'Fallon, Mo., address, was last seen about 100 yards from a dam trying to swim to shore after the current threw him from the canoe shortly before 5 a.m.
Although the Water Patrol release lists Fietsam as a fatality, public information officer Lou Amighetti said crews "can only suspect he is missing."
"We have nothing to rule out that he is alive, and we have nothing to rule out that he is dead," Amighetti said.
Fietsam and Leo Geringer were in the boat on their way to Howell Island near Chesterfield to go turkey hunting. According to a release on the Water Patrol Web site, they were thrown from the canoe after they got too close to a low head dam in "very strong current," which washed the boat over the dam and flipped it over.
Crews searched for about 14 hours Tuesday, stopping at about 7 p.m. Amighetti said the search would resume about 9 a.m. today, when divers will use site-scan sonar imaging equipment that will allow them to take pictures underwater.
Firefighters from High Ridge, Mo., also will join the search effort, providing additional equipment similar to the site scan tool, Amighetti said.
Fietsam attended Belleville West High School, where he was a member of the baseball team. His name is listed on the roster of the last Belleville West team to compete in the state tournament in 1997.
Paul Baillargeon, who coached Fietsam from his tee-ball years into his high school baseball career, described him as "a really good kid" who was "always in the middle of a lot of friends." He said Fietsam laughed a lot and was always eager to try new things and help people.
"He brought something else to the table," Baillargeon said. "You can't explain it, it was just there. He just had something that attracted people to him. And he had the capability to lead other people, too."
He said Fietsam was a good student who learned a lot of discipline through tae kwon do. Fietsam is listed on the Southwestern Illinois College Fall 1999 Honor Roll.
Baillargeon said he and his son Jason, who also grew up playing baseball with Fietsam, were shocked at hearing the news.
"To see something like this happening -- it's just a tragedy," he said.
Baillargeon said Fietsam was part of a tight-knit group of friends, and that some of his former teammates were gathering Monday night to "talk and probably cry a little bit."
"There's nothing like the camaraderie you have when you're on a team," he said. "They're not thinking about the baseball, they're thinking about the person, the husband out there."
Contact reporter Rickeena J. Richards at rrichards@bnd.com or 239-2562.
