Local relatives mourn Mount Vernon woman who died in flood waters
Ozark County relatives are mourning the death of their granddaughter, niece and cousin, Mount Vernon resident Annette Thomas Mesicek, 49, who died after the vehicle she was riding in washed away in high water Thursday night southeast of Fordland.
Annette was the daughter of Ozark County natives and Gainesville High School graduates Tawnya Crisp Krempges, who now lives with her husband Steve in Edmond, Oklahoma, and Darrel Thomas, who lives with his wife Patty in Monett. She is also the granddaughter of Fae Thomas of Thornfield, and the niece of Nicki Crisp McFarland and Treva Thomas Warrick, both of Gainesville, Anita Thomas Donley of Thornfield and Derek Crisp of Dawt. Her brother, Heath Thomas, lives in Florida.
Nicki McFarland said the tragedy has been a “nightmare” for her sister Tawnya Krempges and the rest of Annette’s family.
The incident happened Thursday after Annette and her daughter, Adalyn, and Adalyn’s boyfriend Grant (last name unknown) and Annette’s dog had ridden together from Mount Vernon to visit Annette’s son (and Adalyn’s brother) Skyler Mesicek and his wife Paige, who live near Fordland. As they headed back home to Mount Vernon late Thursday night, heavy rain was falling.
They were traveling on Webster County Route Z southeast of Fordland in the boyfriend’s car when they were hit by the flooded waters of Finley Creek.
“They were not trying to cross,” Nicki said. “The water was up so high, they ran into it before they even knew it.”
Webster County Sheriff Roye Cole told Springfield broadcaster KY3 the “heavy rain made seeing in the dark Thursday night difficult. The driver couldn’t see the water over the bridge. As they started to cross, flood water crashed into the vehicle – bringing limbs and debris. Their vehicle was swept away.”
Annette, Adalyn, Grant and the dog managed to get out of the car as it was swept away by the water. Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpl. Robert Wilkins told the Times Monday the three got “on top of the car.” But after floating downstream a distance, they realized the car was sinking and knew they had to get off, he said. Annette fell off just as the other two were leaving the top of the car.
The survivors told Wilkins that Annette shouted, “Swim for it!” as they slipped into the water.
Adalyn and Grant eventually made it to shore and were rescued, “but Annette didn’t make it,” Nicki said.
To describe how quickly the water was rising in Finley Creek, Wilkins said that when first responders reached the scene, the water was 4 feet deep, “and when I got there about 45 minutes later, it was at 5 feet.”
Emergency personnel, including members of the Battlefield and Rogersville fire departments, responded. Wilkins said the fire departments “launched two boats,” but had to suspend the search when it became too dangerous. KY3 reported that the nighttime search was suspended “around 2:30 a.m.”
The search resumed Friday morning with 40 to 50 volunteers and emergency personnel, but conditions were still too dangerous to launch boats, Wilkins said. “The community really stepped up,” Sheriff Cole told KY3.
Annette’s dog was found, alive, on the creek bank on Friday, but Annette was still missing.
On Saturday, Wilkins said MSHP Water Division troopers were able to launch boats and search about 2 miles of the creek, which was as far as they could go, given the dangerous conditions.
Then, around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, more than 40 hours after the car was washed off the low-water bridge, Annette’s body was found about 3 miles downstream, near Martin’s Branch Road in Christian County.
Wilkins said a resident there found the body when he was out checking his cattle after the flooding. The Christian County Coroner arrived and pronounced her deceased at the scene.
As a comparison, local MSHP Water Division Trooper John Roberts said a comparable distance on the North Fork of the White River would be from Dawt to Tecumseh.
The tragedy is compounded for the family, because Annette’s husband, Adam Mesicek, who was Skyler and Adalyn’s father, also died a few years ago. While Skyler is married and living with his wife Paige in Fordland, Adalyn Mesicek is a senior in high school in Mount Vernon, still living at home. Annette’s mother (Nicki’s sister), Tawnya Crisp Krempges, will be staying with Adalyn in the immediate future, Nicki said.
A memorial service is expected to be held in Mount Vernon; arrangements are pending. An obituary will be published in next week’s Times, if available.
Two other people died in the Ozarks as the result of Thursday night’s flooding. Friday morning, the Wright County Sheriff’s Office in Hartville issued a news release saying the bodies of Devin Holt, 20, of Grovespring, and Alexander Roman-Ranelli, 19, of Springfield, had been found after the vehicle they were riding in with four other young adults was swept off Highway M at a low-water crossing on Parks Creek around midnight the previous evening.
The news release said, “The driver of the vehicle told law enforcement that limited sight distance due to torrential downpour prevented them from seeing around five feet of water passing over the top of a bridge over Parks Creek ahead. The vehicle entered the water and was then swept around 1,000 feet down the creek. Four people were found on shore. The first body was found at 3:30 a.m. The second was found at 9:40 a.m.”