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Person missing in Merrimack River, search will resume Thursday
Rescue crews in Newburyport have been searching for the missing person since about 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The search for a missing person in the Merrimack River was suspended Wednesday night and will continue Thursday morning, according to officials in Newburyport.
Search and rescue efforts have been ongoing since 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, when the city’s police and fire departments first received reports of a missing person, Newburyport Police Department City Marshal Matthew Simons and Fire Chief Stephen H. Bradbury III said in a statement.
Witnesses said they saw a person clinging to the side of a small skiff boat in the Merrimack River, officials said. First responders located the boat, and divers searched the water, but the missing occupant still has not been found.
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More than a dozen teams contributed to the search using drones, helicopters, and sonar scanners, including the U.S. Coast Guard, Massachusetts State Police, and the Massachusetts Environmental Police. Coast Guard officials told NBC10 Boston that they were notified of a person in the river just before 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The missing person ended up in the river when their boat, which was tied up to a dock, got loose, and they entered the water to try to recover it, according to Coast Guard officials. A witness also said they heard someone yelling for help before the yelling abruptly stopped, NBC10 Boston reported.
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After a full day of searching, the police and fire departments suspended their search for the night, according to Simons and Bradbury. A Coast Guard boat will continue to search the area through the night, and full rescue operations will resume Thursday at 9 a.m.
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