By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
SALINE COUNTY —A 78-year-old Abilene man was found dead in the Smoky Hill River Tuesday morning after a witness reported seeing him tumble off a bridge Monday evening in northeast Saline County.
Saline County Undersheriff Brent Melander said this morning that at approximately 6:35 p.m. Monday, as the witness was driving over the Smoky Hill River bridge on N. Niles Road, he saw an elderly man leaning over the bridge railing in front of a parked pickup.
The witness didn't think the man looked safe, so he slowed down to turn around and tell the man of his safety concern. As the witness was slowing down, he looked in his rearview mirror and saw the man tumble into the river, Melander said. He turned around and went back to the location where the pickup was parked and saw the elderly man unresponsive and floating in the water.
Once the witness called the incident in, the sheriff's office activated several of its water rescue personnel and its drone team, Melander said. Salina Fire Department water rescue personnel also responded, and Dickinson County Sheriff's Office personnel were stationed near the county line.
The search continued until dark, when it was called off until daylight this morning, Melander said. The sheriff's office water rescue personnel, Saline County Sheriff's Mounted Patrol rescue personnel, and Salina Fire Department water rescue personnel resumed looking for the man this morning. His body was located at 7:15 a.m. Tuesday approximately a quarter mile downstream from the bridge, Melander said.
The man was identified as Troy Leatherman, 78, of Abilene.