A fifth-grade teacher and a fifth-grade student from Norman Borlaug Elementary School died following an incident in the water at Lake MacBride State Park in Johnson County.
The victims have now been identified as Hannah Jorgensen, 24, of Tiffin, and Ahmed Osman, 10, of Iowa City. Jorgensen was recovered from the Coralville Reservoir on Sept. 22 and Osman was recovered from the same water on Sept. 23.
— RELISH WIRE NEWS (@relishwirenews) September 25, 2026
Deputies were dispatched around 12:10 p.m. on Sept. 22 to Lake MacBride State Park after a report that people were in the water near the spillway on the Coralville Reservoir, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said.
The first person was pulled from the reservoir at 12:43 p.m. and pronounced dead at the scene. Further effort to find a second person in the water continued into the evening before it was suspended overnight.
— RELISH WIRE NEWS (@relishwirenews) September 25, 2026
The two deceased were participating in Borlaug Elementary’s fifth-grade School of the Wild field trip at the MacBride Nature Recreation Area on Sept. 22 before the accident.
According to the sheriff’s office, the search resumed Sept. 23, and responders recovered the second person from the reservoir at 1:24 p.m.
“They were a teacher and student, a colleague and classmate, a friend, and most importantly, deeply loved members of their families,” the district described the two victims in a statement.
“We want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for the incredible outpouring of support we have received. Our building is hurting right now, and so are our hearts,” Borlaug Elementary in a public message noted.
Additional help will stay in place at the school in the coming days, so students and staff have support as they grieve.
“This unimaginable loss touches the entire Borlaug Elementary community and Iowa City School District,” Gov. Kim Reynolds offered condolences to the families of Jorgensen and Osman.
The recovery involved more than a dozen agencies, including the county dive team, emergency management and ambulance, area fire departments, local and state law enforcement, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Army Corps of Engineers and the medical examiner, the sheriff’s office said.
The incident remains under investigation, the sheriff’s office said, with no further information available for release as of Sept. 23.
“We will remember Hannah. We will remember Ahmed. And we will carry their memory with us,” the district said.
