Girl dies saving brother from icy South Dakota river

Updated
Girl dies saving brother from icy South Dakota river
Girl dies saving brother from icy South Dakota river



A teenage girl died after she jumped into an icy river to save her brother in South Dakota.

Madison Leigh Wallace, 16, jumped into the Big Sioux River when her younger brother Garrett Martin Wallace fell in.

A 28-year-old bystander, who also tried to help, fell in the water and is yet to be found.

The Daily Mail reports that Lyle Eagletail vanished alongside Madison minutes before her six-year-old brother was found alive further downstream.

The incident started on Thursday evening at around 6pm ad officials found Madison's body on Friday afternoon with an ongoing search for Mr Eagletail.

According to Sky News, Madison jumped in the river when her brother appeared to fall into the frothing water after climbing on rocks at the river's edge.

She was quickly swept away.

Sioux Falls Fire Chief Jim Sideras said her brother Garrett was not injured.

He said witness accounts differ on whether he was pulled out of the water by someone or he popped up on a rock before being pulled ashore.

Mr Eagletail's fiancée Shawna Rabbit, 19, told Argus Leader she was 'numbed and shocked' at the fact that her fiancé is still missing and expressed frustration at the slow progress of search crews.

The city of Sioux Falls is named after the Big Sioux River's cascading waterfalls, a tourist attraction where visitors often picnic or pose for wedding photos.

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