Iowa Teen Sees Jeep Break Through Ice on Lake, Teams Up With 4 Strangers to Save 83-Year-Old Driver and Dog

Courtesy of Dickinson County Sheriff's Office - Iowa

An Iowa teen was ice fishing with his mother on East Okoboji Lake last Saturday, Feb. 4, when he witnessed a Jeep plunge perilously through the ice.

Alongside four other men, Joe Salmon, 17, an Okoboji High School senior, immediately rushed to help the driver of the Jeep, whose 6-year-old dog, Cooper, was also trapped inside.

The driver, 83-year-old Thomas Lee, had been attempting to access his son-in-law’s ice fishing shack when, at about 1:19 p.m., his Jeep broke through the ice.

The water is about 4 to 5 feet deep at his point of the lake, and the Jeep was almost resting on the bottom. Meanwhile, temperatures that day were hovering around freezing.

Thomas Lee's Jeep, partially submerged after falling through the ice on East Okoboji Lake, Iowa. Courtesy of Dickinson County Sheriff's Office - Iowa

“I took one step and [the water] went to about my chest,” Salmon told Des Moines Register. “I got on the bumper of the rear and tried opening the back door, but all the windows were locked, but one guy gave me a knife and I hit the back glass a couple of times.”

One of the men spotted something moving inside the back of the Jeep—it was Lee’s dog.

After striking the rear window repeatedly, the glass shattered, and they were able to get Cooper out first, before attempting to reach Lee.

Though Salmon managed to reach him, Lee’s foot had become trapped between the driver’s seat and the center console. Once they were able to free his foot, he became caught a second time before they finally pulled him free.

Lee's dog, Cooper, warms up inside Okoboji Store. Courtesy of Dickinson County Sheriff's Office - Iowa

After reaching solid ice, Lee was examined by emergency medical services before being transported to Lakes Regional Healthcare (LRH). Meanwhile, the nearby Okoboji Store was kind enough to allow the five men and the dog to dry themselves off and warm up inside.

Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) stated that Lee is doing well.

“I’m happy that he was okay and the dog was okay. It was just crazy at the time,” Salmon said of the ordeal. “I’ve never done anything like that.”

The five men who rescued Lee and his dog Cooper. Courtesy of Dickinson County Sheriff's Office - Iowa

According to DCSO, visitors partaking in ice fishing or snowmobiling who are driving on local frozen lakes need to take precautions around bridges where water and land meet.

“The areas around bridges, the ice conditions are very poor,” Deputy Chief Tony Petersen told The Epoch Times. “Anywhere where there’s a bridge, the current will run through there and it erodes the ice.”

DCSO commended the five men who conducted the rescue.

“I told them they are great Americans helping out their own people,” said Deputy Chief Petersen. “We need more people like them.

“I think they took a calculated risk, and what they did showed great bravery, and I applaud them for what they did.”

Besides Joe Salmon—a wrestler, football player, and track runner from Spirit Lake—the other rescuers include Corey McConnell, 30, of Spirit Lake; Kody Harrelson, 26, of Nevada; Cody Chester, 27, of Estherville; and Chris Parks, 27, of Hwareden.

On its Facebook, DCSO messaged a special thanks to the Okoboji Store for allowing the men to dry off inside, and also thanked Okoboji Police, Arnold’s Park/Okoboji Rescue, and LRH paramedics for assisting at the scene.

Lee’s Jeep was removed from the lake on Sunday.