Newburyport Fire Chief Christopher LeClaire and City Marshal Mark Murray, alongside Amesbury Fire Chief Kenneth Berkenbush and Acting Police Chief Craig Bailey, report that first responders have shifted into recovery efforts for the missing six-year-old boy in the Merrimack River.
Regional, state and federal assets have now transitioned from search efforts to recovery operations. Newburyport and Amesbury Police and Fire are now sharing jurisdiction on this incident.
The Boston Dive Team has responded along with the Massachusetts State Police Dive Team. Divers will be searching the Merrimack River using a variety of equipment including side-scanning sonars throughout the afternoon and into tomorrow if needed.
At approximately 7:09 p.m. Thursday night, Amesbury Emergency Dispatch received a 911 call reporting an incident in the Merrimack River. Responding crews determined that the incident was within the jurisdiction of the Newburyport Fire Department which then assumed incident command.
The initial 911 call indicated that the incident may have been involving a boat or watercraft. However, it was quickly determined that the family, consisting of parents and four children, had been on land and that there was no boat-related emergency.
The initial response indicates that the parents and children were fishing and/or swimming at Deer Island in Newburyport when members of the family became endangered in the water.
A nearby fishing vessel whose captain observed the family in distress approached and rendered assistance. The seven-year-old girl was brought onto the boat conscious and alert followed by the mother who was unresponsive.
CPR was performed and the mother was transported to Anna Jaques Hospital by Merrimac Fire where she was later pronounced dead. The victim’s name is not being released pending notification of next of kin.
Newburyport Fire and Police are receiving mutual aid assistance from Massachusetts State Police including its Air Wing and Dive Team, Massachusetts Environmental Police, United States Coast Guard, Massachusetts Department of Fire Servies, Cataldo Ambulance, Seacoast Chief Fire Officers Mutual Aid District, Newbury Harbormaster and Amesbury Police. The Amesbury, Merrimac, Salisbury, Haverhill and East Kingston, New Hampshire fire departments are also providing mutual aid.
Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Essex District Attorney’s Office have also responded to the scene. The investigation into the incident is ongoing at this time.
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