Roll of Honor
Otis John Whan
Incident
Investigator Otis Whan drowned when the vehicle he was riding in broke through river ice and became submerged. Investigator Whan was conducting checks of commercial fishing operations on the Mississippi River north of New Boston in Mercer County and had gone onto the 16-inch thick ice to check a group of fisherman who had driven their vehicles onto the river. After conducting the checks, the men offered to drive Investigator Whan back to his service vehicle. As their vehicle was driven over a layer of ice that was only two inches thick, the ice gave way causing the vehicle to become submerged some 14 feet below the river's surface, drowning all its occupants.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-8CC34906- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- August 2, 2026
- Last updated
- August 2, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Investigator Whan served with the Illinois Department of Conservation.
Thank you for your service to the Springfield community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Investigator Whan.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Investigator Otis John Whan is one of 10,094 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,586 officers honored here.
In IL, 354 of 1,318 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 26.9% of this state's fallen. That is 4.1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Illinois Department of Conservation - Division of Law Enforcement, 10 of 13 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 76.9% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Otis John Whan's cause is highlighted.
How Otis John Whan Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Otis John Whan is highlighted in Jan.
Others Who Wore This Badge
12 officers from Illinois Department of Conservation - Division of Law Enforcement are honored on badge.nw.
