As floodwaters receded in Nolan Creek, Gjedrem’s body became hung up in underbrush and tree branches along the creek bank.
Gjedrem, 50, of Killeen had been missing and presumed drowned for seven days. His body was found near Water Street west of Twin Creek Drive and south of Rancier Boulevard, said Carroll Smith, spokeswoman for the Killeen Police Department.
The Fort Hood Fire Department Swift Water Recovery Team, wearing special protective coverings, rubber gloves and air masks, retrieved the body.
Justice of the Peace Bill Cooke of Killeen said he ordered the remains sent to the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas for autopsy.
The location is about a mile west of where the body of 2-year-old Izaiah Conway was found washed up along the north bank of Nolan Creek after a flash flood March 30.
David Brown, a Copperas Cove paving contractor and business partner with Gjedrem, said he was saddened by the news of Gjedrem’s death.
“I’m going to miss him,” Brown said. “It’s hard to lose a good friend He was one of the nicest people you would meet in a lifetime.”
Gjedrem’s roommate, Marty Allman, said the news brought a sense of closure.
“Now we can set our minds at ease rather than worrying every day,” Allman said.
He said he and 20 of Gjedrem’s friends were sitting quietly and talking about their loss and what Gjedrem meant to them.
“I was extremely relieved when we heard the news,” Michael Ray said. “We knew he was dead after he didn’t show up the next day. Now we can stop worrying.”
Ray said he had known Gjedrem 34 years and never heard a bad word said about him. He said his reputation was about helping others.
“God could have taken all the idiots in the world but he took one of the good ones instead,” Ray said. “I guess it was his time. He was one of Bell County’s finest.”
Wayne Barrett said he met Gjedrem when he returned from Vietnam with the 1st Air Cavalry in 1967 and was stationed at Fort Hood. Barrett said while deployed he fought in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley with Lt. Col. Hal Moore.
“I met Scottie when he was just a kid,” Barrett said. “He went through some hardships as a young man but he turned into a real fine grown man with a good attitude.”
Barrett said Gjedrem would help anybody with anything.
Witnesses reported to police at 7:45 p.m. on May 24 that Gjedrem had been swept away into Nolan Creek during a flash flood. They said he was moving a car from a parking lot next to Nolan Creek to higher ground for an employee at the VFW Post No. 9192 in the 300 block of Wolf Street. Witnesses said a wall of water floated the car and swept it into and down Nolan Creek with Gjedrem inside.
The car was found May 25 in the area of Blake and Pidcoke streets upside down in the creek bed. The Morgan’s Point Underwater Recovery Team searched the creek but was unable to locate Gjedrem, who was eventually found about a 2½ miles downstream from the car.
Ms. Smith said search teams included the Killeen and Harker Heights Police Departments and mobile operations centers, the Fort Hood Game Wardens office, the Killeen, Harker Heights and Fort Hood Fire Departments, the Fort Hood Fire Department Swift Water Rescue Team, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Horse Unit, the Darnall Army Medivac Helicopter Unit and Stat Air.
