Body Found Near Big Blue River Bank, in West Beatrice

BEATRICE - A body has been found just north of the Big Blue River in west Beatrice. The discovery was made by three people who were searching the river along Riverside Park Monday morning for Robert "Bobby" Barton.

Law officers would not say if it is the Beatrice man who was last seen August 15th, pending positive identification of the body.

Steve Swarthout, owner of Twin Rivers car dealership in Beatrice was among three people searching the area of the river by boat Monday morning, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
"We were just looking for any sign that we could...and a guy that was pretty experienced had a boat.....Woody....we just kind of went off his river experience and intuition, I guess".

Swarthout said the man's body was discovered about twenty yards away from the river, in an area that was extremely dense with vegetation.
"It would be hard to see, but we just had some signs that something wasn't right".

Swarthout, whose family recently suffered a tragedy, said helping out in the search was the right thing to do.  "I went through a similar situation and if we could help the family, we were going to try to do it. It's closure for the family...and they're a good family".

Gage County Sheriff's Officers and Beatrice Fire and Rescue were called to an area south of West Hoyt Road this morning, to recover the body. The discovery was about 200 yards south of West Hoyt Road, off the north bank of the river.

On Saturday, Beatrice Police had conducted a search of the river area from Riverside Park downstream, aided by search dogs and drones. The cause of death is not yet known. An autopsy and positive identification are pending.