Man dies in drowning rescue attempt

MARION, Ind. -- A man who jumped in the Mississinewa River to rescue his twin 11-year-old sons drowned Saturday in the current above a dam, police said.\nBoth of Neill W. Cornell's sons survived after a man fishing on the riverbank came to their aid. Neither suffered any major injuries.\nCornell, 45, was pronounced dead at a hospital after his body was recovered about 500 yards from the Charles Mill Dam, police Sgt. D.J. Jeffries said.\nCornell had jumped into the water just before 5 p.m. after seeing his sons trapped in the current at the base of the dam. The boys had waded into the 65-degree water and were retrieved by fisherman Jeremy Gallaway.\n"I wasn't thinking of anything, it was just instinct," he said. "I saw the kids were drowning and was just trying to help."\nAfter the boys were pulled out, two employees from a nearby restaurant went into the river after Cornell. But Cornell was pulled down river by the swift current, Jeffries said.\nMore than 100 people watched the rescue effort, and one passer-by jumped into the river and swam out to Cornell, pushing his body to waiting rescue personnel, who were unable to revive him.