COLUMBUS, Ind. -- A Columbus police officer rescued a woman and her young daughter from a river near Mill Race Park Saturday afternoon.
On June 15, Columbus Police Department officers were called around 1:42 p.m. to Mill Race Park near 5th Street and Lindsey Street to conduct a water rescue. Two minutes after receiving the call, Officer Andrew Plank was the first to arrive at the river and was directed to a sandbar near the water.
CPD said Plank observed a woman and her 8-year-old daughter keeping afloat in the river and holding onto a fallen tree. The woman reportedly informed Plank that she could not hold onto the branch for much longer.
Officer Plank removed his body armor vest and entered the water to rescue the pair. Once in the water, Plank swam over and retrieved the woman's daughter and "swam the child to the bank of the river with her on his back," according to CPD.
The officer then returned and swam over to help the woman out of the water.
CPD said preliminary information indicated that two children had been playing on a sandbar near the river and somehow became submerged in the water. The woman immediately entered the river to rescue the children before being caught in the current.
CPD urged visitors to the park to wear a personal floatation device if they go anywhere near the water, saying the "river's current can be deadly even for strong swimmers."