03/09/2021
God Bless this family.. so thankful for closure for them... please continue to keep them in your prayers for peace🙏🏻
Jake Stover was recovered from the Ohio River on Monday afternoon near Newburgh, Indiana. He has been missing from Louisville, KY since January, 10th.
A message from Jake’s parents 3/9/21:
We are overcome with the grief of losing our son. We are grateful to have resolution in this search made possible by the tremendous support from the community and heroic volunteer efforts during the past two agonizing months.
While hope remained in our hearts that we might find Jake alive, as the days continued, our prayers and efforts turned to recovering our son. While the sadness is overwhelming, we are profoundly grateful for the support of our extended family and friends, our co-workers and the strangers we never had the chance to meet.
We are now making funeral arrangements and managing through our grief as a family. Arrangements to celebrate Jake’s life will be communicated shortly. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for showing your love for us and for Jake.
Our thanks go to the entire community who gave their physical, mental, financial and spiritual support, but especially to:
Warrick County Sheriff Mike Wilder, Coroner Sarah Seaton, Newburgh Indiana Fire department and the tugboat operator who reportedly found Jake.
Assistant Property Manager, Dale Brown of the Indiana DNR and his team at the Falls of the Ohio Interpretative Center for the education, love and hospitality. They opened their doors and graciously allowed us to make their facility our search headquarters. Over this time, local businesses and individuals brought food and coffee that kept the hundreds of volunteers and family members going.
Jake’s school community, teammates, and close friends who organized gatherings, fund raisers and gave us love and solace through their steadfast support.
Bruce’s Legacy, a non-profit organization from Wisconsin that assists with search and recovery operations for drowned victims to provide resolution for families. Their commitment and dedication to this search is a testament to their good work helping families find peace.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and Louisville Police Chief Erica Shields for their personal outreach during the effort. Louisville Metro Police Detective Brian Peters, Louisville Fire and Rescue, Louisville River Patrol, Indiana Department of Natural Resources and Clarksville Police for their assistance in the coordination of multiple agencies searching for Jake.
Jennifer Hall from KYK9 who along with her dog, Pocket, dedicated a tremendous amount of time and effort helping to pinpoint locations to narrow our focus.
Louisville Coroner, Barbara Jones, for her talents and willingness to help with her search dogs on the water. Her knowledge and understanding of the river was exceptionally helpful.
The graciousness of the Army Corp of Engineers for their generosity of time and extraordinary assistance at multiple times.
The many anonymous drone operators, kayakers, fellow fishermen and boaters who lent their time and expertise searching and advising on the water patterns.
And lastly to the many employees- our friends- at GE Appliances for their tireless efforts searching by land, boat and air for weeks on end. Your strength to support us during this time will never be forgotten.
- Shawn and Melissa
Prospect, Kentucky is a great place to live and work! Stay in touch to see what is happening in our town Just up the road on U.S. 42 was the Prospect Store.
