One saved, one lost in Flathead Lake

Rollins woman instrumental in saving the life of a man who nearly drowned

ROLLINS — Mimi London admits she shouldn't have heard a young man's cry for help as he was screaming for his life while floating in choppy waters after his boat capsized in the middle of a storm last Thursday night — a storm that claimed the life of his friend.

"Incidentally, I don't have good hearing at all," she said. "There is no reason on Earth why I should have heard him. Just weird."

But around 2:30 a.m., London was awaken by an odd sound.

"I heard a strange noise," she said. "I thought it was a bird or an animal."

She immediately dismissed it, but the noise persisted. She could hear it through a crack in her window and it sounded as though it were coming from the lake. Still half asleep, she stepped outside her home located on the waterfront. Over the lapping waves of Flathead, she was certain she heard what could have been someone's desperate screams for help.

"I listened more closely. It sounded like a human being screaming 'Help! Help!'" she said. "I thought, is this a prank or is someone in trouble? Then I figured, no, it really had to be someone out on the lake."

It was her first time ever calling 9-1-1.

"I guess they figured I wasn't dreaming or drunk" — because Lake County deputies arrived shortly after making the call, she said.

Sheriff's deputy Lance Ewers said he was about to call it quits when her first got to London's house, after going door-to-door waking up six different families to see if he could discover the cause of London's concern. He suspected it was a domestic dispute, or something similar. Just as he was about to leave, he heard what he characterized as one of the most alarming screams he'd ever heard.

"It was only the sound that someone who is about to die can make. It was the most chilling scream I've ever heard. I can't even descibe to you what it sounded like. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up just thinking about it," Ewers said.

London directed them to her next door neighbor's house where they could find a boat.

"The deputies came knocking on my door around 3 a.m.," said neighbor Mike McDonough. "They told me someone was out on the water."

McDonough and the deputies boarded the boat and set out across the lake. According to Ewers, they drove about 200 yards, and then shut down the engine. Ewers yelled out into the darkness, and waited for a return yell. They would then move in the direction of the screaming, and after several stops they found Steven Ray Butler, 28, of Missoula about a mile off the shore.

"He was obviously very cold," McDonough said. "He was shivering but he was able to speak. He was very concerned for his friend."

Ewers said they had to get within 20 yards of him before their flashlights could pick him up in the water.

"It was so black out there on the lake, we couldn't see a thing," he said.

McDonough said Butler wanted to stay in the boat to help them find his friend. However, after 15 to 20 minutes, the man was wrapped up in blankets and Life-Flighted to the hospital. His friend, Casey Monroe Hunter, 23, of Stevensville, was eventually found dead in the water.

"They ended up miles apart from each other," London said.

The weather that night was windy. A storm blew in, kicking up waves while the two men were fishing around Wild Horse Island. Apparently, they had attempted to head back to shore from the island around 10 p.m. By the time deputies found them, the two had been in the water for more than five hours.

Both London and McDonough credited Ewers for helping to save Butler's life.

"He was just amazing," London said. "It was because he was so persistent that that guy is alive."

"They persisted when they thought no one was even out there," McDonough said of the deputies.

If there is one lesson to come out of the tragic incident, it's that you should never hesitate to call 9-1-1, London said.

"When [the deputies] arrived, I was really apologetic. Lance said 'Don't be apologetic. What you did was correct.' He said I was instrumental in saving that man's life," she said.

Stevensville man drowns

By Ethan Smith

Leader Staff

A Stevensville man drowned last Friday, July 7, after his boat was swamped following a storm that almost took the life of his friend, too.

Casey Monroe Hunter, 23, was found by Sheriff's deputies, the victim of an apparent drowning due to hypothermia, after deputies were able to rescue Hunter's friend after a woman heard his cries for help.

Rollins resident Mimi London called 9-1-1 after being awakened by what she thought were cries of help. Deputies who initially responded to the scene were unable to hear anything, but eventually heard cries for help coming from Steven Ray Butler, 28, of Missoula.

Butler and Monroe were out on the lake Thursday when a storm came up, forcing them to take refuge at Wild Horse Island. Around 10 p.m., the men thought the storm had died down enough to attempt to drive Butler's 17-foot Glastron boat safely back to shore.

But the boat experienced mechanical problems, causing the engine to quit, and the boat was soon swamped, Lake County Undersheriff Mike Sargeant said.

Both men were wearing Level III life vests - the lightest available - and decided to try to swim for shore, Sargeant said. After being in the water for nearly two hours, the men became disoriented and eventually separated, each swimming toward what they thought was the shoreline.

London was awakened in the middle of the night by Butler's shouts, and deputies who arrived on the scene eventually heard his cries, too.

"They initially didn't hear anything, but eventually they did. They woke up a nearby landowner, and he gave his permission to use his boat," Sargeant said.

London's neighbor, Mike McDonough, got into his boat with the deputies and they set off, eventually locating Butler about a mile and a half from the Rollins/Dayton shoreline area, close to Cedar Island, Sargeant said.

"[Butler] immediately alerted us to the fact that his friend was still in the water," Sargeant said.

The Lake County Sheriff's boat and search and rescue crews eventually located Hunter's body about one a half miles east of where they found Butler. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's hospital.

Sargeant said there will be an investigation into the cause of the malfunction on the boat, which might have been due to plugs that weren't working. Sargeant said Glastrons ride lower in the water than most recreational boats, making it more susceptible to waves.

The boat was recovered, upside down, later on Friday. Sargeant recommended that all boat owners inspect their boats frequently, purchase the best floatation devices they can afford, and check weather conditions before heading out.

"They were lucky they heard him. He would have been another casualty if not," Sargeant said of Butler.