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CLEAR Temp: 77 °F Wind: WNW at 4 mph Friday, August 15, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend August 3, 2003 Drowning plagued with coincidence By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Thirty-one was a special number for Tony Bearden. It was the number of the yellow semi-tractor he drove, the one he taught his fiancee Jeanette Eichenberg to drive, the one they traveled and worked in together. He always pointed out his number when it popped up in ordinary places — like 31 seconds left on the microwave timer. It was also his age when he drowned in the Rogue River last week, a coincidence Eichenberg pondered as she waited for his body to be recovered. His body surfaced in a Gold Hill city park Saturday morning. "He said 31 was going to be his year," she said. Advertisement He’d bounced back from the deaths of his father and grandfather that came just months apart several years ago. He and Eichenberg had started their own business, Classic Transport, which hauls cars to and from auctions for auto dealers and was poised to grow. They’d settled into a Central Point house with a yard for his pit bull, Angel. Although they postponed their wedding last year, Eichenberg just found out Bearden secretly had been saving up for the big wedding she’d always dreamed of. "I never met another man like him," she said. The two met four years ago when Eichenberg was selling cell phones. "When he walked in, he glowed," she said. She was instantly smitten, so much so that she lost track of the sales pitch she was giving another customer. She set him up with a phone, even though his credit wasn’t great, and within weeks they were inseparable. "We told everyone we were soulmates," Eichenberg said. Bearden was a hard worker, a good provider and a good father to her two girls, Ashley and Alexsiss, and his two children, Stephanie and Anthony, who live in Grants Pass with their mother, Eichenberg said. He found a secluded area along the river near Gold Nugget recreation area where the family could swim and avoid crowds. They gathered there July 28 to celebrate Alexsiss’s 13th birthday. Bearden and Alexsiss were swimming across a narrow stretch of the river upstream from Hayes and Nugget falls. They had just passed the area where the current looked strongest, when an eddy snatched Bearden’s shoe, then tugged him back, Eichenberg said. Alexsiss tried to grab him, but he was caught in the current. Eichenberg shouted from shore, but Bearden was swept downstream about 25 feet, then disappeared below the water before he could even resist. With a love of Indian and Harley Davidson motorcycles and jetboat racing, Bearden "liked to go fast," Eichenberg said. When she worried about his need for speed, he pushed her concern aside "Tony always told me if it’s your turn to die, you’ll go," she said. Eichenberg takes comfort in those words, the number 31 and other little things that seem to add up to more than coincidence. A fountain Bearden gave her — telling her the running water would soothe her anxiety and help her sleep — has taken on new significance. The message on a devotional calendar for July 28 — "There are those who are not the life of the party until they leave" — speaks to her of the life that left her party that day. The prayer printed on that page also fits: "Dear God, without your help I could not face the day unafraid. I thank you for your presence and guidance." Eichenberg has collected the fountain, the calendar and family photos of Bearden atop an entertainment center in her living room. She’s penned a poem to read at a memorial she wants to have along the river. She expects a funeral and burial in San Jose where Bearden grew up and his mother still lives. Darkness plagued searchers the evening Bearden drowned. The next day, extreme heat drove search teams off the river. The Jackson County sheriff’s marine patrol checked the river on patrols, and Eichenberg and Bearden’s friends searched along the river daily. Jackson County Fire District No. 3 pulled the body from the river Saturday about 9:30 a.m. after people in a Gold Hill park spotted it. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4459, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times