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Teen Girl Dies After Jumping Into Icy River to Save Her Little Brother
Image source: KSFY

Teen Girl Dies After Jumping Into Icy River to Save Her Little Brother

"Probably contributed to saving that boy's life."

Image source: KSFY

Rescuers in South Dakota on Friday recovered the body of a 16-year-old girl who jumped into an icy river to save her 6-year-old brother.

The boy survived uninjured, but a man who also went into the freezing water to rescue him was still missing and presumed dead, KSFY-TV reported.

Madison Wallace jumped into the Big Sioux River on Thursday night after her brother, Garrett, was climbing on some rocks at the river's edge and slipped. Lyle Eagletail, 28, saw what happened and went into help them both, the Associated Press reported.

The boy was able to get out, though it wasn't clear precisely how -- whether he was pushed out of the water or made it out another way.

"These people literally jumped in without thinking of their own safety and trying to rescue that child," Sioux Falls Fire Chief Jim Sideras said. "It's a very noble act that they did, and they probably contributed to saving that boy's life."

Bystanders who witnessed the accident told KSFY they tried to help the boy and his rescuers, including one who said he grabbed the man's arm at one point.

"We had him. There were three of us that had him and he had a kid with him, but he just slipped man, he just slipped," Napoleon Ducheneaus told the station.

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