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An Arkansas police officer drowned after entering a river to rescue his fiancee a few hours after dating her, according to his mother.
Fred Marsh, 24, of the Rogers Police Department, went into the Elk River in Missouri on Saturday to help another swimmer and never resurfaced, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. His fiancée’s mother identified the swimmer as her daughter. Marsh was found on Sunday morning after asking his fiancee, Hailey, to marry him on Saturday morning.
“They were together for three good years, and they had a wonderful, loving relationship,” Sheryl Padgett told KHBS. “Although legally he was not my son-in-law, he will always be my son.”
The pair, who have been together for three years, were boating with another couple on a river near Noel, Missouri, when Hailey went into the water and began fighting against the current as she tried to get back to the boat.
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Fred Marsh entered the Elk River on Saturday and recovered on Sunday after asking his fiancee, Hailey, to marry him that morning. (GoFundMe)
Marsh and Rogers’ fellow police officer then jumped into the water to help him, Padgett said. They were able to get him to safety, but Marsh became depressed and exhausted, went underwater and never resurfaced, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
“He saw the love of his life in trouble, and he was going to help his friend do what a good person would do,” Padgett said. “He gave his life to help someone else.”
Padgett said Marsh was loving, hard-working and guided by his Christian faith, stressing that he never hesitated when someone needed help.
“There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for anybody,” Padgett said. “You didn’t have to tell him. You didn’t have to beg him. He was just determined and he would jump in and do anything to help someone.”
Padgett said he had lost his only son in an accident four years earlier. He started calling Marsh his son shortly after he started dating his daughter.
Fred Marsh and his fiancée, Hailey, had been together for three years. (GoFundMe)
“We connected right away with the bond,” she said. “I called him son, he called me mother.”
A motorcade escorted Marsh’s body through Northwest Arkansas on Monday as people lined the route to pay their respects. Padgett said the response from law enforcement and the community shows the impact Marsh has had on many others.
“They made it very clear that Fred was not only their family, but my daughter, my family and, more importantly, Fred’s family,” Padgett said.
Marsh was in his first year with the Rogers Police Department. He graduated from the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy in April and recently started working as an officer.
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Fred Marsh was in his first year with the Rogers Police Department. (GoFundMe)
A GoFundMe created for Hailey by her sister to pay her rent, bills and other unexpected expenses has raised nearly $2,000 as of Thursday morning.
“Fred was a stable young man – Son, fiance, boss, Brother, friend, and more to all. We are saddened and will miss him dearly,” the fundraiser read.
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Funeral arrangements are being handled by Marsh’s family, and Padgett said the family expects officials, classmates, friends of the children and others from around the country to attend.
“Let’s do something in honor of Fred,” said Padgett. “Be kind to your fellow man. When Fred loved, he loved with all he had, and he loved well.”
