Wife waits after bridge collapse (husband presumed dead)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100617/NEWS01/706179802#wife-waits-after-bridge-collapse

Published Thursday June 17, 2010

By Kent Warneke and David Hendee WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE

NORFOLK, Neb. — After more than 24 hours of waiting, hoping and praying, Suzie Scholl said she realized she had to talk to her sons.

She had to tell 6-year-old Ryan and 3-year-old Brendan that their father, Jeff, was missing and probably wasn't going to be coming home.

“I told them last night,” Suzie Scholl said Thursday morning. “This morning they wanted to give their daddy a kiss, so they kissed their hands and sent the kisses to heaven.”

Jeff Scholl, 38, was one of three Nebraska Central Railroad employees who fell into the raging Elkhorn River on Tuesday when a bridge they were inspecting collapsed with little warning. One of the workers was able to climb out of the river himself and the other was rescued by Norfolk rescue personnel. Neither has been identified.

In the meantime, Suzie Scholl kept hoping.

“We hoped that he was trapped somewhere and waiting to be rescued,” the Norfolk resident said.

But a visit Wednesday night from Shane Weidner, Norfolk fire chief, provided some telling and sad information.

“Given the nature of the collapse, it's possible the bridge could have collapsed on him and he was caught underneath. Shane said the chances of survival were very slim,” Scholl said.

“So now we're still waiting, but it's a different kind of waiting. We're waiting for his body to be found,” she added.

FULL story at link.

[Omaha Steve]

1. Kick

[Bluebear]

2. Our crumbling infrastructure. But billions available for war. nt

[Mudoria]

3. here is hoping for the best...