The family of a 17-year-old swept away on the Platte River said, “He died a hero.” Jackson Potter’s family said he was trying to save his sister when he was taken by the waters. Jackson’s siblings said they went to Hormel Park looking for frogs and rocks along the bank, but when the sandy riverbed shifted on his sister, Jackson jumped in the water where crews have been searching since Sunday night.”He had so many goals and so many things he was going to conquer,” said Jackson’s mom, Jennifer Black.Jackson’s mom hasn’t left home since Sunday night.”I will not until his body or he has been discovered,” she said. Previous coverage: Dodge County Sheriff’s Office says search for missing 17-year-old boy on Platte River is recovery effortThe four siblings and a friend were at Hormel Park when his sister Addisyn was in the water, and the sand shifted. “I couldn’t swim and kept going under, and I kept calling for Jack,” said Addisyn Potter-Carlson. “He let me latch on to him, and then eventually he just kept going under, and then he stopped moving.”The 17-year-old Fremont high student was in line to start school at Western Nebraska Community College in Sydney in August, on his way to becoming an aviation mechanic.”He was all registered we were going to go to school, had his campus visit on the 17th,” Black said.The Platte River is full of dark spots.Experts said this season’s storms and floods have increased, and the riverbed is always shifting and covered in sand.”You can be knee-deep water one minute and take a step or two, and you could drop in a hole that’s 6, 8, 10 feet deep that may not have been there before,” said Eric Gottschalk with Lower Platte North NRD.Mom and the family wait for news as the sheriff said wind and heavy rain continue to interrupt search efforts.”He died a hero trying to save her,” Black said. Crews went into the water Monday but didn’t find him.When the weather is clear, the sheriff said crews will keep boating up and down the riverbank with sonar.Click here for the latest headlines from KETV NewsWatch 7
The family of a 17-year-old swept away on the Platte River said, “He died a hero.”
Jackson Potter’s family said he was trying to save his sister when he was taken by the waters.
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Jackson’s siblings said they went to Hormel Park looking for frogs and rocks along the bank, but when the sandy riverbed shifted on his sister, Jackson jumped in the water where crews have been searching since Sunday night.
“He had so many goals and so many things he was going to conquer,” said Jackson’s mom, Jennifer Black.
Jackson’s mom hasn’t left home since Sunday night.
“I will not until his body or he has been discovered,” she said.
Previous coverage: Dodge County Sheriff’s Office says search for missing 17-year-old boy on Platte River is recovery effort
The four siblings and a friend were at Hormel Park when his sister Addisyn was in the water, and the sand shifted.
“I couldn’t swim and kept going under, and I kept calling for Jack,” said Addisyn Potter-Carlson. “He let me latch on to him, and then eventually he just kept going under, and then he stopped moving.”
The 17-year-old Fremont high student was in line to start school at Western Nebraska Community College in Sydney in August, on his way to becoming an aviation mechanic.
“He was all registered we were going to go to school, had his campus visit on the 17th,” Black said.
The Platte River is full of dark spots.
Experts said this season’s storms and floods have increased, and the riverbed is always shifting and covered in sand.
“You can be knee-deep water one minute and take a step or two, and you could drop in a hole that’s 6, 8, 10 feet deep that may not have been there before,” said Eric Gottschalk with Lower Platte North NRD.
Mom and the family wait for news as the sheriff said wind and heavy rain continue to interrupt search efforts.
“He died a hero trying to save her,” Black said.
Crews went into the water Monday but didn’t find him.
When the weather is clear, the sheriff said crews will keep boating up and down the riverbank with sonar.