Tyler J. PEART

PEART, LARSEN, MAAS, LOPEZ, HERNANDEZ, PURDY, BAILEY, MCCARVILLE, TRUEBLOOD

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 8/10/2010 at 14:20:09

August 10, 2010
Fort Dodge Messenger, Iowa

October 29, 1989 -- August 5, 2010

Tyler J. Peart, 20, of Fort Dodge, passed away on Thursday, August 5, 2010. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, August 12th, at 1:00 p.m. in the Chapel of the Laufersweiler-Sievers Funeral Home with the Rev. Karen Berg, Riverside United Methodist Church, officiating. Friends may call from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday at the funeral home.

Survivors include his parents, Rick and Maria Peart of Fort Dodge; sisters, Amie Larsen and her husband Stephen of Fort Dodge, Ashley Maas of Fort Dodge; brother, Kyle Maas of Des Moines; step sisters, Lizbeth Lopez and Angelica Hernandez both of Fort Dodge; step brother, Miguel Lopez of Fort Dodge; uncles, Steve Maas of Fort Dodge, Dave Maas of Knoxville, Tom Peart of Fort Dodge, Larry Maas of Arkansas, and Bill Peart of Humboldt; aunts, Linda Purdy of Spearfish, ND, Beth McCarville and Lori Trueblood both of Fort Dodge; nephews, Ashtin Bailey and Aiden Lopez both of Fort Dodge; nieces, Madysin Bailey and Jaylin Bailey both of Fort Dodge; numerous cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his grandparents William and Audrey Peart, and Glenn and Elaine Maas; and his uncle, Curt Maas.

Tyler James Peart was born on October 29, 1989, in Fort Dodge. He attended schools in Eagle Grove and later Humboldt. Following his education Tyler worked for K.F.C and Taco Bell. He then worked for Wal-Mart as a cashier. Tyler loved all sports, fishing and outdoor activities. He was an avid Iowa Hawkeye Fan. Tyler loved spending time with his family and friends. In his spare time Tyler would volunteer his time to help at the Busy Bee Day Care in Dakota City and as an umpire for the Gypsum Hollow Teener Baseball League. He would always watch the television show "One Tree Hill" with his sister Amie. Tyler would want his family and friends to wear their favorite "Iowa Hawkeye" clothing to the funeral service. Memorials may be directed to The Peart Family Fund, established at Frontier Community Credit Union, 13th S. Third St. Fort Dodge, IA 50501.

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August 2, 2010
Fort Dodge Messenger, Iowa

Search still on for Peart
by Lindsey Mutchler

A construction crew helps remove debris Sunday evening from the area Tyler Peart, 20, of Humboldt, was last seen by friends when they had a tubing accident on Lizard Creek underneath the U.S. Highway 169 bridge. The crew along with Fort Dodge Fire and Rescue continued the work of removing the tree Monday, as the search for Peart continued.

Tyler Peart's family was up and on the Phinny Park bridge by daylight this morning. Peart, 20, of Humboldt, has been missing since Sunday night when he and five other friends had a tubing accident on Lizard Creek near U.S. Highway 169.

Fort Dodge Fire and Rescue responded to a report around 5:30 p.m. Sunday of a young adult in Lizard Creek under the bridge on U.S. Highway 169.

They later learned there were two in the water. Brian Hughes, 18, of Coalville, was able to get out of the water after being carried further downstream. Four others got out where the accident happened and were able to get to the highway and flag someone for help. Crews called off the search for Peart when darkness fell. They resumed looking again this morning at 6 a.m. as the family gathered at the Phinny Park bridge waiting for Peart to be found.

Paul Larson, a friend of the family, searched the north side of the creek for an hour to no avail.

"It's been 16 hours," Larson said around 8:30 a.m. as rain fell. "We've been here for three hours already. Fort Dodge rescue teams are doing all they can to find him. Hopefully soon, we'll know more about what we can and can't do to help."

Assistant Fire Chief Woody Wolfe said crews were searching along the river banks and were going to try and pull a tree out of some rapids were Peart was last seen with the help of the construction crew that assisted in the search last night. Wolfe advised family and friends to sit back and wait. "The water is very treacherous and high," Wolfe said. "We know a lot of people want to help, and staying safe and away from the river is the best way they can help." A boat used yesterday to search the area wasn't used this morning since lightning accompanied the early morning rain and the currents were rough.

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Fort Dodge Messenger, Iowa
August 5, 2010

Balloons mark moment Peart went missing
Loved ones channel their grief for lost man

By LINDSEY MUTCHLER

Ashley Maas, the sister of Tyler Peart, 20, of Humboldt, who has been missing since a Sunday after a tubing accident on Lizard Creek, gets a hug from Peart’s uncle, Steve Maas, as she watches balloons released during a ceremony Thursday on the Phinney Avenue bridge over Lizard Creek. The event was attended by more than 100 people. More than three days have passed since Tyler Peart went missing during a tubing accident on Lizard Creek.

Waiting for him to be found is the hardest part, said his sister, Ashley Maas. "It's horrible," said Maas. "It's the worst feeling because we don't know where he is, how he is."

So while time slowly passed, family and friends filled balloons with helium, creating a bobbing yellow wall above the chainlink fence on Phinney Park bridge. Yellow is Peart's favorite color, and yellow ribbons coupled with black ones sporting Tyler's name adorned the family's shirts.
Friends and family gathered to release the 300 yellow balloons at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, marking the 72nd hour that Peart has been missing.

"It was just a spur of the moment idea," Maas said. "It's a good way to let everyone know we haven't given up hope." On Wednesday afternoon before the release, they laughed and shared stories about Tyler as they cut ribbons and tied balloons. "He wouldn't want us to be upset or crying," Maas said. "He's not like that."

According to friends Cassie Cole, 20, of Fort Dodge; Brittany Pille, 19, of Otho; and Brian Hughes, 18, of Coalville, Tyler was an all-around great guy. "He was funny, hilarious really," Cole said as she sat in the shade of a tree along the Des Moines River near Phinney Park bridge. "It's hard to believe this happened to him.

"The first time I met him was last summer. He came to Waterloo with some of my friends and I was experiencing some emotional turmoil, and he did everything in his power to make me smile, and it worked. We've been friends ever since."

Pille said she went to Humboldt High School with Peart, and he was the class clown. "He always laughed," Pille said. "Even if no one else thought it was funny, he laughed. He had a unique sense of humor." Cole and Pille said they were at the candlelight vigil Tuesday night, and said it was nice to be around everyone. "It makes you feel a little bit better," Pille said.

"I think what they're doing for him is a good idea," Cole added. "We're just hoping for the best." Hughes was with Peart Sunday when the group decided to go tubing. Hughes made it out of the swollen river, and the last thing he said he heard was the others asking where Peart was. "I floated down here so I could get out and call the cops, and tell them we had someone missing," Hughes said of the Phinney Park bridge.

Hughes and some friends wrote tributes to Peart with chalk on the bridge as they swapped stories Wednesday. "What I'll miss most about him was him coming out and yelling Care Bear," Hughes said of his friend. It was a nickname Hughes got one night while playing a game, and it cost him a winning shot. Since then, that's the only name Peart called him, he said. "I think I only heard him call me Brian once," Hughes said.

Rick Peart, Tyler's dad, took to the water with a friend Wednesday and scoured the Des Moines River from the little dam to Dolliver Memorial State Park. "We just cruised down," Rick Peart said. "We didn't see anything." The story is the same for Fort Dodge Fire and Rescue workers, who continue to diligently search Lizard Creek near the U.S. Highway 169 bridge.

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August 5, 2010
Fort Dodge Messenger, Iowa

Body found in Des Moines River

Detective Jason Bahr of the Webster County Sheriff Department stops to talk with Webster County Medical Examiner Dan Cole Thursday afternoon on property at the end of South 14th Street after crews removed a body from the Des Moines River. A body believed to be that of Tyler Peart was found in the Des Moines River near South 14th Street south of Fort Dodge. Webster County Medical Examiner Dan Cole was called to the scene Thursday afternoon. Officials did not confirm whether the body was that of Peart. Peart, 20, of Humboldt, had been missing since Sunday after a tubing accident on Lizard Creek west of Fort Dodge.