MS MS - Jessica Stacks, 28, missing from boat on Tallahatchie River, 1 Jan 2021

[Gigi3]

Info is on other missing person's site. Can't discuss here.

Gotcha! Thanks!

 

[Gibbo214]

What is a 'river bottom'? A dried up river with small channels of water?

 

[Gigi3]

What is a 'river bottom'? A dried up river with small channels of water?

I’m not sure what they call the river bottoms, but we refer to the river bottoms as wooded areas that have sloughs that will run into the main river.

I’m sure someone probably can explain better than me!

 

[Spider92]

so is the story that she was walking along and then the bottom dropped off and she couldn't swim? I'm confused - what does 'walk out of the river bottom' mean?

I must be living on a different planet. I thought, that by definition, the bottom of a river was flooded. Does anyone take a boat out on dry river? And I've never heard of floating down a river in a small boat hoping to shoot hogs or deer. Would you then pull a 200-300 lb deer into the boat? I know it's covid and all but is there no other way for a couple to spend a date these days? All of their actions and decisions strike me as bizarre. Nevertheless, I hope she got herself to a warm safe place but I'm not optimistic.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

I’m not sure what they call the river bottoms, but we refer to the river bottoms as wooded areas that have sloughs that will run into the main river.

I’m sure someone probably can explain better than me!

I grew up in Memphis, not too far from there, and that seemed to me as being a pretty much accurate description

 

[Gigi3]

I grew up in Memphis, not too far from there, and that seemed to me as being a pretty much accurate description

Good lol. We live in Louisiana close to the Red river, and that’s how my boys Describe the river bottoms they hunt in!

 

[Gibbo214]

I must be living on a different planet. I thought, that by definition, the bottom of a river was flooded. Does anyone take a boat out on dry river? And I've never heard of floating down a river in a small boat hoping to shoot hogs or deer. Would you then pull a 200-300 lb deer into the boat? I know it's covid and all but is there no other way for a couple to spend a date these days? All of their actions and decisions strike me as bizarre. Nevertheless, I hope she got herself to a warm safe place but I'm not optimistic.

I would like to be assured that she was alive when he and whomever launched the small boat.

 

[Gibbo214]

I grew up in Memphis, not too far from there, and that seemed to me as being a pretty much accurate description

Like swampy land that ran into the river?

 

[brooks]

In my area, a river bottom is a low-lying land next to a river. It usually gets flooded during very heavy rains.

 

[Gibbo214]

In my area, a river bottom is a low-lying land next to a river. It usually gets flooded during very heavy rains.

So would you need a boat when it is not in flood?

 

[brooks]

So would you need a boat when it is not in flood?

No.

 

[LadyL]

In my area, a river bottom is a low-lying land next to a river. It usually gets flooded during very heavy rains.

thank you
learned something new today

 

[LadyL]

so do I understand rightly that she probably thought the water would be shallow and it was not? or did she just disappear from a shallow area?

 

[Curious_in_NC]

Something else to consider. This is the upper part of the Tallahatchie in North Central MS. It flows another 200 miles, forming Sardis Lake, then meandering down to Greenwood where it eventually joins into the Yazoo. The famous bridge from the song by Bobbie Gentry is near Greenwood.

 

[ElementalLaura]

so do I understand rightly that she probably thought the water would be shallow and it was not? or did she just disappear from a shallow area?

When it floods, the water will cover surface changes on the ground, so you could be wading in knee-deep water, then step off the side into a
ditch or canal, or even just trip over roots and branches down a hillside. If a marshy or wet area is flooded, you can also sink a bit into the mud and muck.

Since it’s a river, there’s a current, which makes it more dangerous if you suddenly step or trip into deep water. The current can create strange eddies and flows, and you run the risk of snagging yourself on submerged branches and roots.

I consider walking through river-flooded land riskier than wading in an actual river you’re familiar with. JMO. I’ve only done it when I knew the trail or roadway that was flooded, it was fairly shallow and away from the riverbed where the current is typically stronger.

I hope she had wading boots.

ETA: even if the floodwater is shallow - say less than a foot — it will still tend to be muddier than river water is because it’s picking up silt and dirt from the river bottom. And, somewhat obviously, the more the flooding, the stronger the current, usually.

 

[whitelilac]

Do we know if this couple has done this there before....familiar with the area, and and by this boat means? Why would she get out of the boat, and go where? "about a mile or mile and a half past West Union" (is the the place of origin?) Was she going to walk? Wading through water or by way of iffy semi flooded terrain?
And why does he "continued down the river at least a couple of miles "
And she was reported missing at 10:30 at night?

"The sheriff said they did find evidence of where she had been, items and footprints." Her footprints?

Not really understanding.....

 

[alexwood]

"The sheriff has not released the name of the person Stacks was with."

Why?

Search underway along Tallahatchie River for missing woman.

"Stacks, 28, from the Harmony community, was first reported missing about 10 p.m. Friday after her companion, Jerry Wayne Baggett, was found downriver."

"Sheriff Jimmy Edwards said the couple, described as being in a relationship, had gotten into a small boat without a motor, putting it into the Tallahatchie River at the bridge on County Road 46 south of Enterprise about daylight Friday morning."
Missing woman update: Search with thermal imaging drones continues

 

[ElementalLaura]

<RSBM>
"The sheriff said they did find evidence of where she had been, items and footprints." Her footprints?
Not really understanding.....

If it’s rolling terrain, some higher areas will be above the floodwater, so it could refer to footprints in those areas. Also, as floodwaters recede, often muddy areas will be left and you can tell if someone or something has walked across those areas.

 

[Gibbo214]

I just keep singing in my mind that the young preacher said that he saw a girl that looked a lot like you, and she and Billie Joe McAllister,were throwing something off the Tallahatchie bridge.

 

[Warwick7]

.