POB 593 Hurley, NY 12443, (845) 331-3383, fax 331-2668 www.rip-tide.org
Recovery, Information, Prevention, and Tactical Intervention for Drowning
Emergencies
April 5, 2006
Inspector Bill Chandler
Enforcement Services, Room 6
Hennepin County Courthouse
350 SO. 5th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Dear Inspector Chandler:
Re: body flotation observation March 29, 2006
Thank you for being so helpful with our exploratory observation project regarding Christopher
Jenkins. Our goal was to answer three questions:
1. Could Chris Jenkins have entered the water from Nicollet Island and have then ended up
in the location where he was recovered?
2. Was it possible for Chris to have entered the water from Nicollet Island and kept his
shoes on?
3. Could Chris have entered the water from the iron bridge on the east side of Nicollet
Island and have ended up in the location where he was recovered?
On March 28th, 2006 we had a follow-up meeting with Omid Mohseni - Professor of St Anthony
Falls Laboratory for Univ. of Minnesota, a river flow expert, to discuss water flow rates and
directions on the day Chris was missing, the day he was recovered, and the observation
conditions. We also wanted to re-confirm with him where he thought Chris was most likely to
have come from to have ended up where he was recovered. It was Mr. Mohseni’s opinion that
Chris would have traveled past the west bank of Nicollet Island, not the east bank, and did not
come from the peninsula area of the Island. We also discussed ice conditions and where the large
trees came from that were observed in the debris area where Chris was recovered.
As we have already discussed, in August 2005 I put approximately 50 tennis balls in the
Mississippi river from both banks and the peninsula of Nicollet Island, and from the closest three
bridges. The balls thrown from the east bank and peninsula of Nicollet Island all ended up by the
power plant. The balls thrown from the west bank of the Island all ended up on the p