News Release



For further information please contact:

Sergeant Dan Crain

573-368-2345

I04E06

April 13, 2006



EMPHASIS: Judge and Trooper Recognized for Saving Life





On April 12, 2006, colleagues, friends and family members of Greg Kays, Circuit Court Judge of the 26th Judicial District and Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Jason Riggs, gathered at the Laclede County Court House to honor the two men for their efforts in saving a person’s life. Present was Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael A. Wolf, who officially recognized both by presenting them with the first-ever “Judicial Conference Award” for their life-saving actions.



For his part in saving a person’s life, Troop I Commander, Captain Randy Becker, also presented Judge Kays with an “Honorary Trooper” certificate, which is the highest award that can be presented to a civilian by the Highway Patrol. In addition to those awards, both were presented with a Senate Proclamation, issued on behalf of Senator Chuck Purgason of Caulfield, which praised the two for their life saving actions.



These many awards stemmed from an incident when the two officials risked their own lives as they saved a person from drowning in the frigid waters of Great Slave Lake. On July 29, 2005, Judge Kays and Trooper Riggs, along with several other residents from the Laclede County area, traveled to the Northwest Territories of Canada for a fishing trip. On their first outing of the trip, Judge Kays and Trooper Riggs were paired together with a young Nova Scotian Guide. When the trio stopped for lunch on an isolated island, the guide evidently failed to secure their boat. The guide soon realized his error and jumped-in to retrieve the craft, as he knew that no one would begin a search for their group until evening on a lake that is recognized as the 10th largest in the world.



As the guide got further out he began to struggle and yelled for help. Immediately Judge Kays and Trooper Riggs removed their clothes and jumped into the 41-degree water and swam some 40 yards to initiate rescue efforts. Despite the severe hypothermic conditions and serious doubts in their own minds whether they, too, could survive, Kays and Riggs safely returned their thankful guide to the shore. The rescuers then started a fire as they realized their lives where still in jeopardy if they could not regain their normal body temperatures.



The Missouri State Highway Patrol is proud and honored by the actions displayed by Judge Kays and Trooper Riggs. It was through immediate action, superior physical abilities, mental perseverance and disregard of their own safety that these two men managed to save another person’s life.