Local Man Rescues Major Celebrity’s Phone from Boise River

We’ve all been there before, right?!

Floating the Boise River is one of the most fun ways to cool off when temperatures soar into the triple digits like they’re about to. Although, a day of relaxation could soon turn to panic if you realize that the river has claimed something from your raft. Maybe it’s something that will cause you a minor inconvenience, like a pair of flip-flops you bought at Dollar Tree or gas station sunglasses. No biggie. Those can easily be replaced!

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But if it’s something more valuable like your car keys, wallet, smartphone or wedding ring, you're probably bummed picturing it sitting at the bottom of the river, never to be seen again. 

Well, that’s EXACTLY happened to one of the funniest comedians in the world when he and his tourmates decided to float the river before their show at Boise State last weekend! Bert Kreischer, best known for his hysterical “The Machine” story, brought his Fully Loaded Festival to ExtraMile Arena on Friday, July 14. While the show was in Boise, the cast decided to take on one of Boise’s most iconic summer activities and shared their photos on Instagram. 

What they didn’t show you was Kreischer losing his phone during the six-mile journey from Barber to Ann Morrison Park. We found out about that from Boise’s famous “River Robin Hood,” Rocky Detwiler. If you’re not familiar with “River Robin Hood,” he’s a snorkeling enthusiast who hunts the Boise River for treasures regularly. When he comes across something valuable like a cell phone, smartwatch or wallet, he’ll try to reunite them with their owners. 

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Sometimes he does that by searching for the Medical ID information in a phone if it’s still working. Other times he’ll look through the wallet for an ID or credit card pointing him to the right person. When he comes up short, he’ll post big finds on his Facebook page asking the owners to contact him. People who’ve lost something in the river can contact him through that page and ask him to do a dive. 

Kreischer’s team found him there! According to a post on the River Robin Hood page, he got a text that read: 

“Hello! We’re in town putting on our comedy festival Fully Loaded and our headliner and festival creator Bert lost his phone in the river. We got your contact as a local legend for recovering things from the venue and I was wondering if we could maybe get some help possibly finding it?”

Detwiler admits that he wasn’t familiar with the comedian before getting that text, but grabbed his gear, plunged into the river and found Kreischer’s phone! He shared these photos of the two of them meeting outside ExtraMile Arena where he returned it. 

Talk about a good news story! Great job, River Robin Hood!