Search crews on Saturday recovered the body of a Longview man who drowned in the Cowlitz River after saving a girl who was in over her head on Friday. The body of Allen Heck, 20, was located around 10:45 a.m. Saturday, approximately 50 yards downriver from where he was last seen — near the old Kelso water treatment plant off Pacific Avenue in North Kelso.

Heck’s mother, Tara Kubacki of Longview, said her son had been hospitalized for diabetes complications just days before jumping into the river to save a Castle Rock girl from the swift current that later took his own life.

Heck’s willingness to save the girl, despite his fragile health, was characteristic of her 20-year-old son, Kubacki said Saturday.

“Allen doing this is the type of person he always was … He wasn’t even thinking of himself yesterday when he went in after that little girl,” Kubacki said.

The 9-year-old girl had been playing with a family friend on a sandbar around 3 p.m. Friday when she fell of a shelf and was suddenly in water more than 8 feet deep. (Police previously reported the girl’s age as 3, but corrected that to 9 years old on Saturday.)

Witnesses said Heck helped the girl escape the water before he also slipped beneath the surface of the river. Search crews looked for Heck until dark Friday and resumed their search early Saturday.

The girl was at the river with a family friend, Longview resident Carla Schneider, 31. When the girl fell, Schneider said she went in after her at first, but the water took her under for a moment as well. It was so cold, she said, “the instant you hit the water you can’t breathe.”

Schneider said she yelled for help and one young man attempted to get the girl before Heck went in after her.

“We’re all very proud of what he did. He didn’t have to do that. He chose to help us,” she said. She described the incident as traumatic for herself, but said “the little girl is fine. She’s in good health.”

Schneider said she’s already spoken to Heck’s family and apologized.

“Honestly, in my heart I feel like it’s my fault because I couldn’t help them,” she said. “They have my deepest sympathy, and I give his family my deepest apologies for this.”

During an interview Saturday, Kubacki said she understands this was an accident and doesn’t harbor ill feelings toward the girl or Schneider.

“I hope this little girl gets past this, but she’ll probably remember this her whole life. She needs to know it’s not her fault … That would be important to him,” Kubacki said of her son.

Kubacki described her son as outgoing, with a “silly” sense of humor but a troubled past. Earlier this month, Heck was booked and released from Cowlitz County Jail after he appeared in court on a summons for trafficking in stolen property and second-degree and third-degree theft.

Kubacki said she loved her son despite his mistakes. Growing up, Heck dreamed of joining either the Navy, National Guard or Coast Guard. He participated in a Junior ROTC program at R.A. Long High School, but was heartbroken to learn the military couldn’t accept an insulin-dependent diabetic into their ranks, Kubacki said.

“He’s always wanted to help people around him,” she said.

Family friend Awna Bozarth of Longview said she remembers Heck as a good-hearted person always on the move.

“He wants to go, go, go. He always wants to go do something,” she said. “Unless he was sick with diabetes, you couldn’t keep up with him. He was a very busy person.”

Hunting and fishing were among Heck’s favorite activities, said his stepfather, Jeff Kubacki.

A service for Heck is being planned for next week at Faith Temple Church in Longview, his mother said.

Tara Kubacki said anyone who is interested in helping out should make a donation in Allen Heck’s name to Cowlitz County’s Search and Rescue.

“We’re grateful that he’s found. It’s not the outcome that we wanted, but he drowned and we can put him to rest and he’s not in that cold water anymore,” she said.

Related articles:

Authorities identify man who saved girl in Cowlitz River (July 18)

Update: Search crews recover body of man who drowned in Cowlitz River (July 18)