ROCHESTER, Minn. – Tuesday marks the 71st anniversary of Rochester’s Christmas Eve tragedy, where three people drowned.
On December 24, 1953, Rochester firefighters Ambrose Riley and Stanley O’Brien responded to Silver Lake on a report that John Stephenson, a nine-year-old boy, had fallen through the ice.
Riley and O’Brien found John, but couldn’t grab him before he slipped under the surface. The two firefighters dove after him, but no one resurfaced.
They were recovered shortly after, but could not be revived.
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