This podcast is the ten-minute news conference held Monday, June 5, 2023 around 10AM. Only once was the Saturday before the collapse 911 call mentioned, and then only fleetingly, as if an afterthought. Andrew Wold, the owner of The Davenport Hotel, had to be brought up by a reporter, and might otherwise have gone unmentioned throughout the conference.

Mayor Mike Matson expressed his sympathies with everyone what was touched by the May 28 partial collapse of The Davenport Hotel. He thanked Chief Rick Halleran of the Iowa Task Force 1, Urban Search and Rescue, based out of Cedar Rapids, for his team’s work, then ceded the mic to him for his update.

Chief Halleran said he and his team “had the good fortune of. . . giving some closure to some families” — particularly, those of Branden Colvin Sr, Ryan Hitchcock, and Daniel Prien, whose remains were recovered from the site. He said the conditions of the site still remained fluid, but he had hopes that the operation had entered into clean-up mode

Davenport Police Chief Jeff Bladel gave his perspective. He cited the progress made within the past 48 hours and confirmed the individuals recovered as Colvin Sr, who was found at 11:59AM, Saturday, June 3 and thereafter ID’d by forensics; Hitchcock, Sunday, June 4, at 12:25PM; and Prien, Monday, June 5, 2:30AM. He said he had been in contact with Branden and Ryan’s families throughout the weekend with updates. “We don’t have any other information at this time,” he said, “that there is additional people missing and/or related to this incident.”

Chief Bladel continued, “as with such an event, and with, as you can imagine, the complexities of an investigation, an investigation is initiated through our city fire marshal’s office. We have resources on the ground to assist from the Division of Criminal Investigations, or DCI. The Davenport Police Department’s investigation team is also assisting with the investigation as well as the Medical Examiner’s office. . . As complexity continues, if additional subject matter actually related to this are needed, they will be brought in, and the investigation will continue. This is an active investigation, so details will be released when we can provide additional information.

“So far, our community has rallied around [the families of the deceased]. Continue to honor the families; continue to respect the families in what we do and how we act accordingly, and keep them in your thoughts and prayers.”

Chief Bladel then ceded the mic to the Northwest Illinois Incident Management Team Chief Brian VanVickle. According to Chief VanVickle, his agency was contacted late last week by the City of Davenport through the Scott County Emergency Management Agency to assist in rescue/recovery efforts. “Since we’ve been on the ground last week,” he continued, “our primary objectives have been overall site-safety, for not only the first-responders and contractors, but [residents in the area], through dust and debris removal. Additionally, we’ve been tasked with overall operational picture — that’s combining the public and private contractors. . . we’re also coordinating all of the logistics that are requested to come on the scene.” Chief VanVickle said his agency would continue to remain on site to support the overall effort throughout the week.

Mayor Matson returned to the mic and said he’d take a couple questions after making a couple quick statements, as he had to go brief Governor Kim Reynolds, who had arrived to tour the collapse site. “There have been inquiries regarding the 911 call that was placed on Saturday. I want to ensure the public that we are looking into this. Right now, as I’m sure you can understand, our focus has been on the families of the victims and the ongoing recovering efforts. Our focus is still on recovery, but, as you heard, there is a potential for transition: Workers — and I can’t thank them enough again — going meticulously through all of the material. Once that is completed, we’ll work with our contractor on our plan for the safe dismantle of parts of the building. We’re working with multiple structural experts from all around the country to understand how best to proceed and do this in a dignified manner.”

Chief Bladel fielded the first question, which had to do whether forensics conducted an autopsy to determine whether the victims “died immediately upon the collapse.”  Chief Bladel said he had shared the information with the families over the weekend, but decided such details were not worthy of public consumption — otherwise, yes, an autopsy was done. He confirmed the Medical Examiner had autopsied at least one individual, name withheld, in the state crime lab before the remains were released to the families; “so there will be autopsies done on all three.” This presumes Chief Bladel wasn’t speaking on purely hypothetical procedural grounds.

In response to Herb Trix’s question of how Andrew Wold, the owner of The Davenport Hotel, was involved in the process, Mayor Matson said he had no contact with the man, and didn’t know if anyone else had, scanning the faces of his colleagues for contradictory glances; so, no, Wold had no involvement. Before Todd McGreevy of the Reader asked, “Can we get clarity on the —,” Mayor Matson took another question. This one wanted him to elaborate on who is paying for the search and the demolition of the building, he said, “I don’t know that there’s a — we’re certainly collecting all the data and developing all the information on the bill, which is significant; and we’re working through that.” Then he excused himself and departed.

In the Davenport Police Department lobby after the news conference ended, McGreevy tried to speak with the Fire Marshal. He demurred. McGreevy then asked Davenport Fire Chief Michael Carlsten if WQAD Channel 8’s reporting about his department’s response to the 911 call made on Saturday the day before the collapse was accurate. “I’m sorry,” Chief Carlsten replied, “I’m not familiar with what you’re talking.” “So the 911 call that Tony made on Saturday, that said, ‘You know, hey, there’s a problem —” Chief Carlsten cut him off, said, “There’s a lot of information, and right now, we’re focusing on the recovery work. We’re going to look into all this information and we’ll have some answers for you in the near future.” McGreevy asked if the Channel 8 report that “you guys were on the scene for four minutes and left” is accurate?  “I don’t have that information,” Chief Carlsten responded then stating he would get an answer to this question.