SOLON, IA — Rescuers recovered the body of 10-year-old Ahmed Osman from Coralville Reservoir on Wednesday afternoon, ending a search that lasted more than 24 hours after he went into the water during a Borlaug Elementary School trip tied to the University of Iowa’s School of the Wild program.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said the body was found at 1:24 p.m. Ahmed had been missing since Tuesday, when responders were called to the area near Lake Macbride State Park and the Coralville Reservoir spillway.
Another person in the incident, 24-year-old fifth-grade teacher Hannah Jorgensen of Borlaug Elementary in Coralville, was recovered Tuesday. She was pronounced dead at the scene in the Macbride Nature Recreation Area.
Teacher and student were recovered during the same day-and-a-half emergency response
Authorities said the first emergency call came in at 12:10 p.m. Tuesday reporting “subjects in the water” near the spillway. A little more than 30 minutes later, at 12:43 p.m., responders recovered Jorgensen from the reservoir.
Emergency crews kept searching for Ahmed through Tuesday afternoon and evening, but the effort had to be suspended overnight before resuming early Wednesday. The sheriff’s office later confirmed the student was located in the water at 1:24 p.m. Wednesday.
The incident unfolded during a fifth-grade School of the Wild field trip connected to Borlaug Elementary, adding to the shock felt across the Iowa City Community School District and the broader Coralville and Iowa City area.
District leaders say grief is spreading across Borlaug and the wider school community
The Iowa City Community School District said both Ahmed and Jorgensen were deeply valued members of the school community. In a release, the district said the loss is being felt throughout Borlaug and across the entire district.
The district expressed condolences to both families, as well as to Jorgensen’s colleagues and students and Ahmed’s classmates and friends. It also said counselors and additional support staff would remain available at Borlaug Elementary to help students and staff process what happened.
Later Wednesday, Borlaug’s official Facebook page thanked the community for its support, saying the building was hurting and that the outreach meant more than the school could put into words.
School operations will continue at Borlaug, but field trips are halted for now
In a late Tuesday message to families and staff, the district said school would be held at Borlaug Elementary the next day, with flexibility built into the schedule to respond to student and staff needs. More counselors and support personnel were assigned to the building for the days ahead.
The district also said all School of the Wild field trips were canceled for the foreseeable future. That decision came as the investigation remained active and families and staff were still being briefed on the emergency response.
Even as the district moved ahead with classes, officials made clear that the usual school routine would give way to grief support, with the school community being asked to focus on the people directly affected by the accident.
A large multiagency response searched the water and shoreline
The rescue and recovery effort drew support from a long list of local, state and federal partners. Those helping included the Johnson County Metro Dive Team, Johnson County Emergency Management, several area fire departments, police departments and ambulance crews, along with state and federal agencies.
Among the assisting groups were the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa State Patrol, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, UI Air Care, UI Med One, the Johnson County Medical Examiner and the Story County Sheriff’s Office. Crews worked through the afternoon and into the evening on Tuesday before the overnight pause.
Johnson County officials said Wednesday that the investigation is continuing. No additional details about how the two ended up in the water have been released.
School of the Wild has been part of Iowa classrooms for more than three decades
The University of Iowa’s School of the Wild program has operated since 1991 and works with dozens of school districts across Iowa. The university says it reaches more than 6,000 students each year and is meant to connect children and youth with the natural world.
The weeklong day camps use the woodlands, wetlands and prairies at Macbride Nature Recreation Area for hands-on learning. The program has long been a signature part of outdoor education in the region and is tied closely to the university’s land along the reservoir.
University officials have also said the school is returning the 485-acre property to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after planning to exit a no-cost 66-year lease because upkeep costs have risen. The university said School of the Wild and Wildlife Camps will continue, but at another location.
Local news that matters, from Dulaney Griffin.
