New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Massachusetts State Police Troopers today continue to search for a motorcycle operator who is believed to been ejected into the Taunton River from a Veterans Memorial Bridge ramp in Fall River early yesterday morning.
According to Dave Procopio of the Massachusetts State Police, the State Police Underwater Recovery Team for the second consecutive day is searching the river, which flows southward from Fall River, across the Rhode Island line, and into Mt. Hope Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The person whom they believe was riding the 2020 Kawasaki Z125 Pro is a 35-year-old Fall River man.
Members of the State Police URT (also known as the Dive Team) and the State Police Marine Unit searched yesterday and recovered articles of clothing but did not locate the operator. The Dive Team and Marine Unit returned to the area this morning and are utilizing side scan sonar, a device that detects objects or anomalies on the seabed, to search. When the sonar detects an object, Troopers will dive onto it to investigate what it is.
Fall River Police, Somerset Police, and the US Coast Guard have assisted in the search.
At 12:26 AM Sunday Troopers from the State Police-Dartmouth Barracks responded to a call reporting a motorcycle in the middle of the roadway on the ramp from the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge (Route 6 eastbound) to Route 79 southbound. Investigation by responding Troopers led to the determination that the motorcycle operator likely was thrown over an embankment from the impact of the crash and fell into the water below.
