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| Sheriff's deputies and more than a dozen expert volunteers worked from first light through late morning Wednesday to safely recover the body of Derrick Meister, who apparently jumped off the Moyie River Bridge at about 1 a.m. Here, Chief Deputy Rich Stevens, Svetlana Harper of the Sheriff's Posse K-9 team, Edith Stolley, Boundary Search and Dive Rescue, Barry Blackmore, posse high angle rescue team leader, Sean McCoy, high angle team and John Minden, Boundary Volunteer Ambulance, pause during the recovery effort. |
According to detective David McClelland, the agent came across an unoccupied pickup parked in the middle of the bridge shortly after 1 a.m., and, fearing the worst, shone a spotlight over the guardrail.
The light glinted off what appeared to be a body on the bank of the Moyie River, more than 400 feet below, and the agent alerted dispatch and summoned assistance.
By first light, a large contingent gathered at the scene for the arduous task of recovering the body, identified by then as Derrick Meister, 21, Coeur d'Alene. Three sheriff's deputies, Boundary Volunteer Ambulance personnel, members of Boundary Search and Dive Rescue, and members of the Sheriff's Posse K-9 unit and high-angle rope rescue team, 13 volunteers in all, worked through late Wednesday morning to safely recover Meister's remains.
The Moyie River Bridge, opened in 1965 to replace an earlier, obsolete bridge built in 1923, is the second highest bridge in the State of Idaho, 424 feet above the canyon floor. The highest is the Perrine Bridge across the Snake River near Twin Falls, which is 476-feet above the canyon floor.