Rescuers recover body of missing Prophetstown man, 79

PROPHETSTOWN – The search for an elderly man who fell into the Rock River river wile mowing Monday west of Prophetstown State Park is over.

Rescuers recovered the body of 79-year-old Arlyn K. Bush around 4 p.m., Sheriff John Booker said in a news release.

Prophetstown police responded around 5:30 p.m. Monday to a report of an accident involving an adult man mowing along the river bank. The lawn mower was pulled from the river.

Bush, owner of Bush Family Farms, lived at 29 Meadow Lane, just west of the park, online records show.

The Whiteside County Sheriff’s Office, Prophetstown Police, Prophetstown Fire, Erie Fire, Lyndon Fire, Prophetstown Ambulance, Rock Falls Fire Department, Illinois Department of Natural Resourses, Yorktown Search and Rescue and Quad Cities Search Dive Team helped in the search.

The search party assembled at the state park in Prophetstown where they launched their boats. (Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com)

Boats patrol the Rock River just off of route 78 in Prophetstown searching for a man who went missing while mowing near the river Monday. The body of Arlyn K. Bush was recovered around 4 this afternoon. (Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com)

Boats patrol the Rock River just off of route 78 in Prophetstown searching for a man who went missing in the river on Monday. (Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com)

Rock Falls fire pulls their boat out after searching the river Tuesday morning. The search party took a lunch break at 11 a.m. before heading back out on the water. The body was recovered around 4 p.m. (Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com)

Searchers work along the banks of the Rock River in Prophetstown Tuesday afternoon. (Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com)

Rescuers recover body of missing Prophetstown man, 79

Kathleen A. Schultz