Suit filed against US over fatal Albert Pike flood

This June 12, 2010 file photo shows John Nichols with the US Forest Service climbs away from debris at the Albert Pike Campground in Montgomery County.
This June 12, 2010 file photo shows John Nichols with the US Forest Service climbs away from debris at the Albert Pike Campground in Montgomery County.

Family members of three campers killed in the 2010 flood at the Albert Pike Recreational Area have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S., claiming negligence by the Forest Service.

The suit, Roeder et al v. United States of America, was filed on Aug. 4, 2011, in the U.S. District Court Western District of Arkansas.

The June 11, 2010, flash flood of the Little Missouri River at the campground in western Arkansas killed 20 people, including Esther Kay, Bruce and Deborah Roeder.

Tara Roeder, the daughter of Bruce and Deborah Roeder, and Theresa Roeder, the daughter of Esther Kay Roeder, filed the lawsuit on behalf of their family members. Attorneys Jim Freeman, Melody Piazza and Ashlie Merchant with Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. are representing the families.

The lawsuit alleges that employees and agents of the U.S. Forest Service made no attempt to warn the campers of the dangerous nature of the river.

The suit also claims that Loop D, which sustained the worst of the flooding where the campers died, should not have been built because it was in a flood plain, something the Forest Service knew.

The lawsuit seeks damages for the physical injuries and deaths of the three Roeders and the grief and mental anguish of the surviving family members.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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