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River Search Continues Sunday

The search continues for a child missing and believed dead in the Mississippi River in St. Paul.

Witnesses claim a woman threw or dropped two children into the river off the Wabasha Street bridge around nine p.m. Friday night — then jumped in herself. It happened while thousands of people were gathered on Harriet Island for the Taste of Minnesota.

Onlookers entered the river and rescued one of the one-year-old twin boys and his mother. They are at Regions Hospital, where both are expected fully recover.

"Her injuries are considered non-serious." St. Paul Police Commander Brian Coyle said.

The mother is under arrest inside the hospital and could be charged with a crime on Monday. KARE TV will not disclose her name until she has made a court appearance.

Witnesses
Dozens of people witnessed the bizarre incident, several tried to help.

"I saw a baby falling," said Mahmoud Hassan, one of the men who went into the river to rescue mother and child. "She wouldn't shut up … yelling freedom, freedom, freedom."

"You could see the baby's hands coming up and then go down and come up and go down," said Kristina Manning. "It was the unthinkable, you don't think to see something like that."

Manning returned to the scene Saturday, still unable to understand what had happened.

"How could she do something like that? Nothing in the world could be that bad … to kill her kids."

Children saw the incident as well. Felicia Smith said her four-year-old son was deeply troubled by what he saw. She had to try and answer when the boy asked "Why did she throw her babies in the water?"

"I just held him tight and we just sat there on the couch and I just told him some people go through things that are unimaginable, I don't know what was going through her mind, but we're going to pray for her."

Rescuer Hassan seems troubled as well — apparently feeling guilty that he didn't save the other child.

"It's pretty tough right now. I honestly wish I would have looked for the other baby instead of taking her out of the water," Mahmoud Hassan says.

The Investigation
Police are still sorting out witness statements trying to figure out what happened.

"Our information is that her behavior didn't draw attention to herself prior to the act," said Commander Coyle.

Police wouldn't say if the woman was intoxicated, taking any kind of behavior-altering medicine — or if she'd ever tried killing herself.

"It's unknown at this time," Coyle said referring to the possibility of drugs or alcohol. As for suicide, "That's under investigation."

One thing Coyle could share, his respect for Hassan and the others who tried to save the children.

"I'm impressed that a citizen would jump into a river and make the kind of effort that he did," Coyle said.

Last Updated - 7/6/2003 8:35:16 AM