Latest / I Do, Part 2 / Arkansas Police Officer Dies Saving Fiancée, Hours After He Proposed

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Arkansas Police Officer Dies Saving Fiancée, Hours After He Proposed · I Do, Part 2

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Hey, there are folks that It's Thursday, July twenty third,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: and this is an episode about a love story. But
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: it's a love story we debated about even talking about
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: because it's a tragic love story. A young man proposes
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: to his girlfriend. Later that day, he dies trying to
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: save his brand new fiance, and with that, welcome to
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: this episode of Amy and TJ. Roabes. The story is
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: out of Arkansas, my home state, in an area where
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: I have spent significant time and I have family. That's
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: not why it jumped out at us. This is one
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: of those it's almost too sad to even talk about.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: But there was some beauty in there, and I guess
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: that's the part that we're holding onto and telling this story.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think it jumped out to us
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: because there is so much division and ugliness in this world.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: People spend so much time just arguing and pointing fingers and.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: Suing each other.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: I think so much of our podcast feed is filled
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: with all of that, and so, yes, this is an
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: unbelievable tragedy, but it is such. It is a beautiful
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: love story, and I get choked up just thinking about it.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: I've been trying to read as much as I can
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: about this young man, a twenty four year old Rogers
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: police officer who you just look at the picture of
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: this young couple and they're gorgeous, and from all accounts,
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: he was a beautiful man inside and out. And to
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: think that he had proposed to her that morning, they've
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: been dating for three years, and later that day he
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: dies trying to save her life. It's hard to get
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: your head around. But it's also just the people who
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: knew him and loved him said, that's exactly.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: Who he was.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: And let's explain, folks, just go back over the weekend
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: is when this happened. This is in This is on
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: the Elk River. If you're not familiar, this is if
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: you I'm the young man the couples from Rogers, but
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: this is just across the border in Missouri and northwest
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: arkansaw that people go the Elk River. They were canoeing
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: that day. But as the police do tell us that
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Fred Marsh, twenty four year old first year officer with
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: the Rogers Police Department, was there with friends. They were celebrating.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: He was with his brand new fiance who had been
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: his fiance and had that title for a matter of hours,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: she goes into the water. At some point she gets
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: in trouble with the current. He sees her in trouble,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: jumps in to help her, helps shuffle her to safety.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: He then gets in trouble, starts to struggle in the
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: way the police department describes it. He becomes exhausted, he
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: goes under and never comes back up. His body is
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: recovered the next day. So those are the circumstances robes
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: and I guess it's not a full examination necessarily about
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: the circumstance. Is nothing untowards the state tragic, obviously accident,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: But I guess it speaks to people. A story like
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: this speaks to people about the people you love when
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: you see them in trouble. What would you do? How
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: would you react? There was not, I'm sure a split
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: second that he considered he might get in trouble. He
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: just saw the woman he loved, and he just found
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: out hours earlier he was going to be spending the
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: rest of his life with her, at least that was
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: the plan. He saw her in trouble ropes, I don't
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: know what else he could do besides jump in the water.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Yes, and he, as you mentioned, a first year police officer.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: He was trained and followed his heart and his passion
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: to save lives. That is why he got into that position.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: And so yes, the moment. Look, we know police officers,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: folks in law enforcement, fire department, emergency workers, they're heroes
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: every single day because they're running towards emergencies. They're running
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: towards danger and tragedies while we're all trying to run away.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: And so yes, that is what he signed up to do,
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: to serve and to have that happen in a personal way,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: in a split second on a day that was joyful
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: and happy and celebratory, to see for that moment that
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: he saw his fiance struggling in the water. You're right,
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: he did not hesitate. And everyone has described him as
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: a hero, and he was a hero before that day,
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: but he is now forever immortalized as a hero. He
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: gave his life to save someone else, and not just
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: anyone else. He gave his life for his fiance. I'm imagining,
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: my god, what she must be going through because to
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: know that she was the reason her struggle, She was
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: the reason why he jumped in, She was the reason
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: why he ended up giving up his life for her.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: I don't know how you I don't know, But I
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: don't know how she recovers. I don't know what that
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: is going to be like for her. And we focused
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: here robes on his training, his background, the line of
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: work he decided to get in, and I'm sure that
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: contributed in some way to a maybe even a confidence
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: he had. He had had more training than most, maybe
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: even in saving live. He's got emt t all kinds
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: of stuff. I just don't you could say it all
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: day long. I just think anybody who loves someone doesn't
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: even have to be man. Woman could be a woman
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: looking at a child going in the water, woman looking
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: at another friend. It could be a man looking at
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: another friend of his. I just don't know if there's
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: any other reaction that you have to seeing a loved
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: one in trouble. I just don't know what else could it.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: You're not going to stop for a second to be
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: patient and give me that rope and let's do this,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: and maybe we could try this. I just don't know
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: instant other reaction anybody would have to seeing somebody they
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: love in trouble. So I don't know what else could
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: have been done differently. I don't know what other safety
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: measure could have been taken. We could talk about life
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: jackets and all this all day long. I just don't
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: know what else could have been done.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: And I think also, what's just it's frustrating because you
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: just you keep thinking like, why couldn't he have been saved?
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Why couldn't he have saved himself? Because they weren't alone.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: It wasn't just the two of them. They were with
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: you mentioned friends, and they were with another couple actually,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: another officer and his wife were in the canoe next
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: to Officer Marsh and his fiancee, Haley. So when Haley
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: goes in, not only did he jump in his friend,
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: the other officer jumped in with him to try and
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: push Hailey, yes, towards the canoe. And that's what Marsh
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: ended up able to do. He was push her to
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: the canoe so she could hold onto something. But I'm
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: just I don't understand how he couldn't have been saved too.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: It's just that he went under and they couldn't find
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: him again. Actually they didn't recover his body for a
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: short while. They actually had to get dive teams to
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: go find him. But it's just that you start thinking
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: about how in that split second decision, how there wasn't
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: anything available to send him help, to give him help,
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: that the other people in the other boats couldn't couldn't
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: help them. But we're hearing these stories more and more.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: It happens every summer. It happens every time people are
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: on the water. I know, I get it, it's inevitable,
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: but it's just one of those moments where I I
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: you just you feel for everyone who was in those canoes,
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: because clearly they were helpless, and even his coworker who
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: was out in the river with him trying to help
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: his fiance assuredly tried to help him as well and
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: just couldn't. But this was a guy who I mean,
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: the police department has put out plenty of statements just
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: about in his short time as an officer, the impact
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: he left on that police department.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: Uh, he's twenty four. He just completed at the academy
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: in April. I mean, he just this. This dude is
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: brand spanking new, and he got his gig, he got
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: his girl, time to propose and let's start life together.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: That is awful that or you can see it line up.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: They've been dating for three years, right three years or
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: they've been together for a while. She's been with him
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: through all of this training. She has known what his
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: intentions were. She has known he had a desire to serve.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: And what do you do. I got the gig. I'm
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: gonna serve here, twenty years in the career, retire, We're
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: gonna have a house up here, have kids. This is
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: just in a different part of the country where ambitions
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: sometimes don't look like they do in Manhattan, where people
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: the goal is to get a good job, to take
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: care of your family, to have kids, to build something
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: in the community. You're in. The timing there just makes
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: sense to me, it does. It's what guys do. We
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: wait to get everything in order, then we can propose.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: We wait to do all this, then we propose. It
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: was something my mom always told me not to do.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: A woman will rather be with you and struggle with
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: you than wait until you get all your ducks in
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: a row. And Okay, now it's time, Joe. You just
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: tell me that. And it just I don't know what
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: might have happened, could have happened, but I just everything
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: seemed to be going along in the in the order
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: it was supposed to, and canoeing with friends. Man, that's
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: a hell of an even simple way to celebrate their.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: Engagement, right, And that area of the country you know
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: it well, Rogers and I have become I have started
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: to know it fairly well because I've made I think
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: now at least four trips over to that area. This
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: is an area where outdoor activities are central to Rogers.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: It's a cycling community, it's a hiking community. We have
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: run along those trails there. It's just you see everybody outdoors,
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: enjoying the water, enjoying the woods, enjoying the mountains. This
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: is a place where people are out and so I
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: guess it does make sense in that way that they
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: decided to celebrate by going on this canoe trip on
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: a hot summer day. That it makes perfect sense. And
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: you think, somebody who has EMT training and police training,
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: I don't imagine you'd ever even think about or worry
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: about getting into trouble, drowning and not being able to
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: help one another and protect each other.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: No, no, no, you see somebody you love in trouble.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: You don't think, okay, wow, if I go in there,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: I might get in trouble. You don't think about that
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: you don't do that at all. This is another case.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: This is absolutely the third one we have covered in
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: recent months. The first was Morocco. Those soldiers. One went
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: into the water, got in trouble, another one jumped in,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: gets in trouble, next thing you know, would both of
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: them die? Was it just the one? Right? In that case?
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: That was a situation where someone sees somebody in trouble,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: then they jump into the water. Next thing you know,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: they're in trouble. The couple we just saw, not the couple,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: the five family members in Ohio. What happened in the water.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: Two are in trouble, Uh oh, jump in two more,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: everybody's in trouble now and all five die. I don't
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: know how to change training, change thoughts, change human nature.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: But your instinct is to help the people you love
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: when they're in trouble. And maybe what we need to
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: be teaching robes is more safety with life jackets and
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: keeping those things on even though they're not comfortable and
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: they're not cool. But this is a this is a
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: significant string of deaths. We're talking about six now in
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: the past few days over what somebody got, gets in trouble,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: somebody jumps in and they end up dying. It's just
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: I don't know. It's the story's worth telling and worth
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: it's a cautionary tale, but man, it is a story
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: of love. And if you got somebody in your family
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: and your loved one, and if you don't think you
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: would jump in that water, you should go have a
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: serious conversation with that loved one. They ain't the one
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: for you. It's just instinct. This is what you do.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: That is what you do, and that is what he did.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: And when we come back, we're going to talk about
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: this beautiful love story. We got to hear a little
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: bit about what was between these two from her mother,
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: who she said she felt like this young man who
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: was about to officially become her son in law had
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: been her son already for several years. And and and
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: welcome back everyone, as we talk about this incredibly sad
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: but beautiful love story between a brand new Arkansas police
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: officer and the woman he had proposed to hours before.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: Twenty four year old Fred Marsh, just out of the
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: police academy in his first year serving as a police
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: officer there in Rogers, Arkansas, proposes to the girl he
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: had been with for three years so yes, twenty one,
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: they start dating, they have a beautiful love story. And finally,
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: I'm sure you know, as you pointed out, he graduates
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: from the academy, he gets his job, is getting his
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: life set up, and he makes it official by getting
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: down all one knee and proposing to his girlfriend of
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: three years, Haley, And to just see within hours it
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: end the way it did, It's it's heartbreaking.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: Heartbreaking doesn't even begin to describe it.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: But we got to get a little inside, at least
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: from Haley's mom, who talked about their love and the
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: love that she witnessed, and she said that there's nothing
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: that this young man wouldn't have done for anyone. She said,
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: you never had to tell him, you never had to
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: beg him. He was just willing to do whatever it
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: took to help someone. That was his nature and being
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: a police officer was perfectly suited for him.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: And I I saw him referred to as a general giant.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: I didn't see his height. I don't know his dimensions.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Actually he was a college athlete as well. But it's
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: I mean, you'll, if you all are listening, look up
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: just google Fred marsh Roger's police department and Just check
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: out his picture.
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: He's adorable. Just check out He's adorable.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: And they literally look like the perfect couple the top
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: of a wedding cake. I mean, they really had everything
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: going for them. And look Hailee and her mother. Her
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: mother describes losing her son, her only son, in a
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: fatal accident four years ago, and so she said, as
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: soon as her daughter Haley brought Fred marsh into their family,
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: she fell in love with him immediately. And she said,
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: even when they were just dating and in early days,
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: she just started calling him son and he started calling
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: her mama, And it was almost like from the beginning
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: they knew they were destined to become family. So she
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: said they instantly had a connection, they instantly had a bond.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: And she said he was a loving, hard working man
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: guided by his Christian faith.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: And you know, I think this is a tough one
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: for a lot of folks.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: You know, I know that we all come up with
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: reasons why and how could God do something like this?
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: And sometimes this sort of situation shakes people's faith in God.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: But that's not what's being told, at least about him
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: and his family and those who loved him. They're holding
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: on to that and know that he would have wanted
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: them to that he was a believer and he lived
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: his life and he led by example by helping others,
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: And sadly to know that he died the way he lived,
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: I guess might serve as some comfort to family and friends,
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: but it's incredibly tragic.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: Nonetheless, well maybe that was his last lesson to teach
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: in life, was how to love and Fred Marsh, thank
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: you for the moment. Really didn't know him, wish I
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: did and he is what an awful and I don't know.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: I didn't want to do this story. I talked to
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: my sister. We were going back and forth. She says,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: all everybody's talking about up there in north west Arkansas
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: right now, and that just every bit of this story
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: is awful. It is just every segment of it is
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: just awful.
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: It's hard.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: The more I read and the more we've been looking
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: at their photos, you know, you do get choked up.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: It's hard not to feel incredible emotion and connection to
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: this couple. And yet at the same time, I always
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: try to do this this takeaway. You know, you cover
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: these types of stories and we're not even there and
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: we didn't know them. But every time you read something
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: like this and you hear how somebody lived their life
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: and you see how they gave their life for someone else,
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: that ultimate story of sacrifice. That's love and I just
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: think we need more of it in this world. And
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: as sad as this story is, I do think it
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: offers just a silver lining of hope, of hope that
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: there are good people out there, people who love each other.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: And it's a reminder to love one another. When you
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: see a story like this, Yes cry, Yes feel awful,
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: Yes give if you can, either your money or your prayers.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: I know there's a go fundme page set up already,
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: but what you can do is just love one another
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: as the way Fred Marsh loved his fiance.
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: That's the takeaway for me. That's how we get through
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: the day.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: When we hear stories like that, we learn and we
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: learn how to love better and more often and self leslie.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: That is what Fred Marsh did, and that is our
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: takeaway after reading this story, and we hope you will
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: do the same. We always appreciate you listening to us,
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: every one. I'm Amy Roebuck alongside TJ.
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.